


Everybody Needs Somebody

by Mrs_Mojo_Risin_Blues



Series: Blues Brothers [1]
Category: Blues Brothers (Movies)
Genre: Angst and Tragedy, Blues, Comedy, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Falling In Love, First Love, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Mild Sexual Content, Music, Musical References, Relationship(s), Rock and Roll, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Sexual Humor, Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-14
Updated: 2017-02-11
Packaged: 2018-07-15 00:15:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 44,462
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7197341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mrs_Mojo_Risin_Blues/pseuds/Mrs_Mojo_Risin_Blues
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jake & Elwood meet & befriend Maria Valens, a guitarist with a love for Rock N roll. As she proves she isn't the average female musician to a male-dominated group, one Blues Brother begins to fall for her & tries to win her heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Banged Up Knee

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Everybody Needs Somebody](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/206849) by Mrs Mojo Risin Blues. 



> This is a redo of a previous fanfic I had completed on Fanfiction.net. I updated the grammar and details of the original story so that it is better written.

###  Summer of 1980

* * *

 

It was a chilly night time in Calumet City, Illinois despite the summer season. The chilly air was due to the recent rain that poured earlier that night and the mice in the allies paid the price for it. One little mouse shivered as it scurried towards an open trash can but quickly stopped once it heard the sound of footsteps. It stopped, for a few brief moments and scurried away. Coming out of the alley, was the silhouette a young woman, looking cold and upset as she carried a guitar case. The woman, Maria Valens, dragged her feet slowly down the dingy wet streets with her head & her hopes down as she struggled to carry the guitar case on her back. As she looked down, she saw her reflection in a big puddle in front of her and stopped walking as bitterness filled her thoughts.

_Tommy kicked me out of the band...I'm dirt broke...and the only home I have is a fucking hotel...I'm a failure in life.._

She kicked a rock into the puddle in frustration and anger to distort her reflection and stormed off to the direction of her hotel/home. Her converse shoes stomped rapidly down the streets and her mind began to flood with worries...

_How am I gonna make the extra money? The restaurant only pays me for basically shelter and almost nothing else...and here's no way in hell I'm going to be a stripper..._

Her thoughts were interrupted suddenly as a rat scuttled across right in front of her and she stopped in her tracks abruptly. As she came to a halt, her foot slipped on a slippery part of the street & made her fall forward having the guitar case crush against her back painfully and made her knee scrape against the street with additional forced pressure applied to it.

"AHHH!" Maria cried painfully.

She laid idle on the ground in pain until she gained enough stamina to pick herself up. She stumbled down the streets for a small duration when her bad knee gave out and made her fall again.

_Godammit!_

She wiped some dirt off of her knee & looked up as she tried to get up before she realized where she was. In front of her stood St Helen of the Blessed Shroud Orphanage. Maria rolled her eyes and sneered at the sight of the building. It was a grim reminder of her childhood in St. Agnes' Orphanage for Girls which she was denied the things she wanted in life: a comfortable home, support, and to love & to be loved back.

The only thing the orphanage she grew up in provided for her, were moral values concerning the fact it was a Catholic orphanage. Her true moral values however, were easily looked down upon because of her love for Rock n' Roll growing up.

_"I see a red door & I want it painted black. No colors anymore I want them to turn black…"_

"MARIA! Turn that off at once!" one of the nuns would yell. "Rock n Roll is the devils music designed to lure poor, religiously naïve minds into the into the words of Lucifer!"

Not one girl in the orphanage understood what Maria went through since everyone around her would listen to "Ave Maria" or "The Lord's Prayer". Maria desperately wanted to get away from the site that reminded her of of her former home, but she knew with a bad knee, she wouldn't make it far.

_I can't turn this place away, right now..The hotel is too far to walk to and the bus lines are down._ Maria thought as she winced in pain some more

_I need help.._

She got up & tried to walk but limped on one leg due to the fall. Maria sighed defeated as she approached the threshold & knocked on the door, feeling guilty about possibly waking up the orphans & nuns.

The door creaked open and there stood a familiar face to Maria. Sister Mary Stigmata.

_Wow._ thought Maria _She's still alive?_

The sister looked at Maria in surprise & recognition. "Aren't you the Valens' girl?"

Maria nodded in pain. "Please, I hurt my knee & my home is too far to me to walk to. May I please stay here for the night? I promise I'll leave first thing in the morning. I won't be a bother." She suddenly winced in pain as her knee throbbed.

"Of course you can come in, you poor thing!" Sister Mary replied sounding frantic as she let Maria in.

Maria hopped into the orphanage as her guitar case swung back & forth on her back. She plopped down tiredly on the nearest chair as the sister retrieved some bandages & helped bandage the knee.

"Thank you so much, sister!" Maria cried gratefully "I'm grateful you're helping me in a time of need."

The sister smiled at her kindly. "It's not a problem at all, my dear. You were always a good girl."

Maria sat up a little in the chair to face the nun. "You actually thought I was good? I thought the nuns here didn't like me because I would blast out music."

Sister Mary chuckled "That was true, but you reminded me so much of my niece. She was a lot like you" Sister Mary looked up at her from Maria's knee "She was strong willed, rebellious, sometimes got into trouble, but overall a good girl with a good heart who loved God."

Maria smiled a little "Yeah that's does sound like me." she said playfully.

She moved her leg gently, after the sister said a prayer & it felt a lot better.

"You should spend the night here to let your knee rest." Sister Mary advised.

"I'm sorry to impose…" Maria began to say but the sister shook her head.

"No, you're not imposing at all." Sister Mary objected "Just rest up, dear."

Maria sighed "alright" she replied quietly with a small smile.

"So tell me" The nun began as she sat on a chair nearby Maria "How have you been doing?"

Maria slowly faded her smile "Not good. I feel like I'm a failure. I failed at music the only thing I love! My bandmates kicked me out of the band"

"You know" Sister Mary began as Maria mentioned her being a musician "You remind me of these two men who also grew up here in this orphanage that I helped raise after I left St. Agnes'."

"Who?" Maria asked curiously 

Sister Mary replied "Jacob & Elwood Blues."

Maria shrugged her shoulders, unfamiliar with the names.

"They loved their blues music as much as you love your rock n roll."

Maria smiled "Blues music is pretty good. These guys sound alright!"

A frown then formed on the nuns face. "Unfortunately, one of the brothers had to go & get himself locked in Joliet prison!"

Maria lifted her eyebrows in surprise "What for?"

"He robbed a gas station, but Jacob got himself caught." The nun said as she shook her head to express shame "The poor troublemaker got himself 5 years in in the penitentiary..."

"Oh...that's...unfortunate" Maria commented.

"Indeed it is" The nun agreed.

"Well, nevertheless, I would still like to meet these two brothers." Maria said "They sound interesting"

"Perhaps you'll meet each other in the future." Sister Mary said.

"Yeah, maybe" Maria agreed with a yawn.

Sister Mary noticed the female musicians tired state "Go up to the Bishop's room and get some rest. He is currently away on business so you' won't cause any trouble."

"Thank you very much, Sister Mary" Maria said kindly.

She carefully made her way upstairs, trying not to apply too much pressure on her knee, and found a small bedroom with a small rosary hanging over the bed. She set down her guitar case at bedside and quickly fell asleep.


	2. Curse. Smack!

The next day arrived as the sun slowly rose up from the horizon. Slowly but surely the rays natural light began to shine through Maria’s room, causing her to stir. She slowly opened her eyes as the sun shone directly onto them, causing her to groan and turn away from the light. After what seemed like a few minutes, the whole room was lit up. Maria groaned and slowly sat up from the bed.

_Fine…I’ll get up…_

Remembering about her injury, she bent her knee up and down and much to her delight, she could no longer feel pain.

_Oh good. Now I can finally go home._

She got up from the bed, applied her makeup, fixed her hair, and grabbed her guitar case before exiting the room. She made her way down the stairs, turned to the left, and made her way past the creepy crucifix to enter Sister Mary’s office. Maria knocked on the door gently.

_I mind as well say thank you to her before I head on home._

"Come in" cried out Sister Mary.

Maria opened the door and made her way towards Sister Mary’s desk, whom she noticed looking quite worried.

“Sister,” Maria began “I just want to give my thanks for letting me stay the night to help my knee heal.”

The nun gave her a small smile, got up and patted Maria on the head “It’s alright dear, no need to thank me. Helping the less fortunate is what the good Lord would’ve wanted.”

Maria wanted to smile, but began to notice Sister Mary rummaging through a ton of paperwork while looking exasperated.

“Sister?” The guitarist asked with concern “Is everything alright?”

The nun paused from looking through a folder and looked up at her.

“Unfortunately not, Miss Valens.”

She let out sigh of defeat.

"The orphanage may shut down."

"What?!" responded Maria, alarmed by the news. "Why?!"

“The county took a tax assessment last month and we owe them five thousand dollars“ The sister said calmly.

Maria was stunned into silence

_My time at St. Agnes isn’t exactly one of my most cherished memories, especially after Sister Mary had transferred from there to here, but why should the current little boys who stay here suffer in their youth even more than I possibly could’ve?_

“Well..uh..” Maria stammered, trying to quickly come up with a plan “M…Maybe the church could organize a fundraiser or something! I'm sure there would be people willing to help out…" she began to say but Sister Mary shook her head.

“No, Miss Valens. The church won’t pay for this building anymore. They are letting it go as collateral and are giving it to the board of education.”

Maria rolled her eyes in frustration “So the lives of innocent little orphan boys are far less important than building a new damn school?”

“LANGUAGE!” The nun shouted, making Maria jump.

She bit her bottom lip. “I’m sorry, sister. Slip of the tongue.”

Sister Mary huffed in frustration. The phone interrupted the tension & the nun answered it. As she continued to talk, a hopeful smile slowly formed on her face. Maria began to have her hopes up. 

_Is a plan being formed?_

“Yes Elwood, bring him here after you pick him up. I need to have a word with the both of you…” Sister Mary then gave a glance at Maria “and I want you to meet someone.”

Maria narrowed her eyes at her in confusion.

_Who on earth is she talking to? And why does she want them to meet me?_

When she hung up, the sister looked at the desk in front of her, deep in thought.

"Is everything ok?" Maria asked her.

She looks at the concerned guitarist & replied “Do you remember the two troublemakers I told you about last night?”

Maria nodded her head.

“One of the brothers got released from prison early for good behavior. Perhaps there is hope for redemption for him after all.”

Maria shrugged her shoulders “Maybe.”

“Miss Valens, I might need your help. Try to get the boys away from trouble while they’re here, will you?”

Maria, a little taken back by the request, nodded her head “Um..sure.”

_How am I supposed to babysit two guys I’ve never even met before?_

* * *

Meanwhile in the dirty rundown hellhole that is Joliet Correctional Center, the echo of Joliet Jake Blues’ snores was heard all across the prison floor as he was sound asleep in his top bunk. Two guards came from the parole office in search of the older Blues Brother and walked right in front of his cell, where his cellmate was already awake and smoking a cigarette.

“The assistant warden wants this one of of the box early, wants to get it over with fast” one of the officers told the other.

“Alright, lets do it.”

Jake awoke to the sound of one of the prison guards rapping rudely on the cell door with his nightstick

“Hey…c’mon, wake up! It’s time”

Jake remained immobile on his bed until a blow to the head from the nightstick caused him to finally move. He sat up from his bunk, made his way down, and gave his cellmate a goodbye secret handshake before walking off with the officers. He was escorted by the two parole officers down the many halls of the prison as the many other felons barked at him as he passed by. After what seemed like an eternity for him, Jake arrived at the parole office, & gathered his belongings. The prison doors opened for him as there stood a police car with a tall man with the same black suit, glasses, & hat as his brother. Along his knuckles tattooed a name "Elwood”. Jake approached Elwood & after a few seconds of silence, they hug.

The Blues Brothers were finally reunited after 3 years.

* * *

 

The duo made their way to the orphanage and quickly parked the car. Elwood was about to leave when Jake broke the silence "What are we doing here?"

Elwood turned to his brother ”You promised the Penguin you would visit her the day you got out.”

“Yeah…so I lied to her..” replied Jake with a nod.

"You can't lie to a nun, that's like the ultimate blasphemy!" Elwood chuckled “We gotta go in, and visit The Penguin”

Jake seemed annoyed as he replied “No…fucking…way.” before crossing his arms and looking ahead of the road.

Elwood rolled his eyes and got out of the car. “We need to go in, Jake. The Penguin also said she wanted us to meet someone.”

Jake sighed in frustration and finally gave in as he got out of the car and the two men made their way inside the rundown orphanage. They tiptoed up the small crowded squeaky stairs as the creepy crucifix hung above them.

They were about to knock when they heard Sister Mary "Who is it?"

Maria, still in the room with her, looked at her in curiosity, wondering how she knew someone was behind the door.

“Jake and Elwood.”

The door slowly opened and the brothers spotted Sister Mary at her desk, and to her side a rather attractive and curvaceous woman who looked like she was in her mid twenties. The taller Blues Brother raised his eyebrows in curiosity.

"Come in" Sister Mary called to the men.

The two brothers nervously entered the room and stopped in their tracks before the door behind them mysteriously.

“Hello boys.” Sister Mary said with a smile “Nice to see you. Please, have a seat.”

_So..._ Maria thought to herself _These are the Blues Brothers..._

The men looked around the room for some chairs, only to spot two child-sized desks at the back of the room. Elwood pointed to them with his thumb as they slowly slid into the tiny desks.

“No, boys. Come up here towards me.” Sister Mary demanded in a soft yet strict tone “I want to see your faces.”

The brothers reluctantly scooted the desks towards the front, closer to the Sister and Maria. Elwood, feeling embarrassed by the situation, tried not to glance at the younger woman in front of him.

"Boys, this is Maria Valens. She grew up at St Agnes'.” Sister Mary introduced.

The two men glanced at Maria and waved a bit awkwardly as she also waved back uncomfortably.

“Hello.”

"Maria, would you please be a sweetheart & fetch me a glass of water?" Sister Mary asked her sweetly.

“Um…sure." She responded in monotone.

Behind his shades, Elwood’s eyes followed her as she walked across the room, noticing her hip sway in her tight fitting black jeans. Elwood slowly blinked his eyes at her with his mouth slightly agape as he felt his pulse speed up. Sister Mary, noticing his stare, smacked her ruler on Elwood’s desk, making the brother jolt back to reality and forced his attention towards her.

Jake chuckled at the expense of his brother. “I think Elwood wants to know if she’s single, Sister”

“Be quiet’ Elwood argued

“Quiet, both of you!” Sister Mary disciplined.

The brothers kept their mouths shut and looked down at their desks.

The nun calmed down and set her ruler down. “The county took a tax assessment on the property last month…they want 5,000 dollars."

“Doesn’t the church have to pay that?” Elwood asked.

The Sister sighed “They would if they were interested in keeping the place…but they aren’t. The Archbishop wants to sell this building outright to the Board of Education.”

“What’s gonna happen to you?”

“I’ll be sent to the missions.” Sister Mary replied worriedly. “Africa…Latin America…Korea...”

“Five grand, no problem!” Jake exclaimed with confidence “We will have it for you in the morning!”

“Let’s go, Elwood” He suddenly gestured to his younger brother.

They were about to get up when Sister Mary stopped them “NO! NO! I will not take your filthy stolen money!”

The two men slumped in their seats, disappointed by their idea being shot down.

"Well, then“ replied Jake “I guess you’re really up Shit Creek."

Sister Mary whipped out her trusty ruler and smacked Jake on the hand with it, as he cried out in pain. An awkward giggle came from the threshold of the doorway. Everyone turned their heads as Maria made her way into the room and hid her chuckles behind her hand. Jake scowled at her as Elwood turned his head away from her and adjusted his tie nervously.

_“_ Here’s your water, Sister _”_ said Maria as she placed the glass on the desk.

Sister Mary gave her a smile “Thank you, dear.”

Her attention then focused on Jake “I beg your pardon, what did you just say?”

Jake, clearly upset and embarrassed, talked slowly “I offered to help you…you refuse to take our money…and I said…I guess you’re really up Shit Creek!”

Sister Mary smacked his hand with the ruler again, causing Jake to yell in pain and Maria to hide her laughs. Elwood noticed her amusement of the situation and tried to defuse it while turning red in embarrassment.

“For Christ’s sake jake, take it easy.”

“Elwood!”

The Sister hit him as well.

“Ah shit!” he exclaimed.

**Smack**

"Damn!"

**Smack**

“Jesus Christ!”

"Fuck!"

**Smack**

"shit!"

**Smack**

"Ah!"

The Sister continued to hit both men a great deal when suddenly Elwood cried out.

"OW YOU FAT PENGUIN!"

Before the sister could smack him, Maria suddenly got in front of the two pain-ridden brothers in their defense.

"Look Sister,” she began nervously “You said to help them not get into any trouble so that's what I'm doing. Your ruler-smacking is causing them to curse which is making them get into trouble, so to prevent further cursing, trouble, & smacking, I'm asking you to please stop."

The brothers looked at her in disbelief before Elwood got up from his desk and jolted down the stairs. Jake, getting stuck on the tiny desk, scooted out of the room as fast as he could until he fell forward too fast and ended up tumbling down the stairs. Maria jolted out of the room with her guitar case and almost tripped on the first step.

“You’re such a disappointing pair.” Sister Mary called out to the brothers, who looked up at her from the bottom of the stairs. “I prayed so hard for you. It saddens me that the two young men whom I've raised to believe in the ten commandments have returned to me as two thieves, with filthy mouths and bad attitudes.”

She then pointed at them “Get out; and don’t come back until you’ve redeemed yourselves”

The Sister then turned her finger towards Maria “And you, Miss Valens. Do me a great favor and help these two men follow in your God-fearing footsteps”

Sister Mary walked back into her office, letting the door to her office close.

Maria turned to the black-clad brothers at the bottom of the stairs, unsure about how to approach them. After a few moments, she gave a big exasperated sigh and made her way down the staircase as Elwood turned his head away.

“Look, I know that was a very awkward way of meeting me” She began as her guitar case swung from her shoulders with each step she took “And I know it's awkward that I have to 'look after you guys' like if I was your babysitter even though we had just met, but I really want to help save this place too, so I hope I can at least…I don’t know, hang with you guys until we get the money for this place."

“Umm…S-Sure, but uh…sorry you had to see that.” Elwood apologized as he helped Jake from the floor, still not looking at her “That has never happened to us, especially in the presence of a woman."

Maria gave a small snicker ”Don't worry about that. I’ve seen worse embarrassing moments. Like at this one gig I had with my band, my singer had a lot to drink and so…"

"Wait, wait wait," interrupted Jake as he adjusted his hat to face her "You were in a band?"

“Yup” She replied with a hint of pride ”I was actually in many bands thought my life.”

Jake raised an eyebrow as he glanced at Maria’s guitar case and nodded to it “You any good at it?”

“Oh…” Maria replied with a sly smile and hands on her hips “I’m damn good”

She winked at the brothers “And I can sing too.”

“So can we” Jake replied.

“Oh thats right!” Maria exclaimed “The Sister told me you guys are in a band too!”

"Yeah, but we split 'cause I got locked up."

“Oh” she responded with a nod of her head.

Things got quiet & awkward until Elwood breaks the silence "So…um…you were at St Agnes?”

“Yeah, I..uh..was there from age 5 to 18. it was complete hell and misery. Sister Mary was at our place for awhile too”

"The Penguin seemed to love you, why was your time there such a pain?" Elwood asked

“Well, she was the only nun who liked me. The others would scorn me because of my rock n roll records, saying that they were the devil's music." She responded as she rolled her eyes, clearly thinking how stupid that was.

“Huh, that's a shame." replied Elwood. "We should've met when we were younger, I..uh…would've been in your defense"

Maria blinked once, a bit taken back by the generosity of what he said.

She gave Elwood a small smile “Thanks.”

Elwood returned the smile but remained quiet.

Jake, noticing how shy Elwood was being, stepped in“Alright, enough chit chat"

Maria and Elwood turned to Jake.

"Where are we gonna stay?" he asked his younger brother. “Do you still have that room at Lloyd’s place?”

“Yeah I do“ Replied Elwood uneasily. “But I think my apartment is too small."

"How about my place?" offered Maria.

The two men gave her a confused look & she continued "I'm not proud of this, but I live in a hotel. I could ask my friend Jeff to let you guys have your own temporary room until you get a bigger place to stay. He owes me anyway.”

The brothers raised their eyebrows, surprised at her generosity.

“Uh…thanks." Replied Elwood. "so…where is this place?"

Maria gave him a wink “Get your car and just follow me.”


	3. Lord Knows I'm a Voodoo Child..

It was cold & rainy as the trio arrived nearby Maria’s residence & went to the back of an alley by one of the stores to park the Bluesmobile. Elwood found a secret place that was latched on tight and read:

"WARNING: DO NOT ENTER. ELECTRICAL HAZARD"

"Don't worry" replied Maria. "There's nothing in there, I've checked it myself.”

Elwood got out of the car, opened the latch, slowly parked in the car & the passengers got out of the cars windows, barely squeezing out of them. Once they got out of the car and the storage unit, Elwood locked up the doors, and let Maria led the way to the hotel. She cautiously chewed on her toothpick and hunched her back as she occasionally tried to avoid puddles on the pavement while carrying the guitar case. As she walked ahead of the brothers, they actually both had a chance to really get a good look at her.

Her long wavy black hair bounced for every step she took. Her black jeans really hugged her hips but were loose and torn at the knee. Her high top converse with dirty shoelaces really showed its age with it’s faded black fabric. Her shirt wasn’t anything special, as it was just a red and black striped pattern. The brothers also noticed she had a thick chain around her neck, much like how Sid Vicious wore it.

Her fashion choices made Jake skeptical of the friend they had just made today.

_By the way she dresses, I doubt she knows what the blues are. She would probably laugh at the fact Elwood & I are in a Blues band & not some sort of a Punk band…_

Elwood, meanwhile, just stared at the floor and tried to not make any eye contact with her. He was never really an expert when it came to flirting with women, especially ones who look as good as her.

The trio walked inside the hotel & Maria walked right to the front desk where a man with short black hair, brown eyes & many tattoos down his neck was reading a magazine featuring The Rolling Stones on the cover

"Hey Jeff.”

The man looked up & flashed a friendly smile once he saw Maria. "Hey Maria. What's up?"

"These are my new friends Jake & Elwood Blues." She said as she jerked her thumb towards the brothers. Jeff nodded at them in acknowledgement, as they returned the nods "I was wondering whether you have some an extra room so they could stay. You owe me from what had happened Charleston, NC.”

The brothers glanced at each other shortly, wondering what she meant by what she said.

Jeff sighed in defeat "Alright."

He got some old keys from a few hooks on the wall in back of him & gave them to Jake.

"Here ya' go. Room 915”

"Thanks" replied Jake, still uneasy.

Maria once again lead the way to the rooms, as they walk away from the lobby & towards the elevator.

They all waited in silence until Elwood broke the tension "Listen, uh…Jake & I appreciate what you're doing for us. We don't mean to be a burden to you…"

She shook her head and looked up at Elwood as they got in the elevator.

”Not at all. You guys seem pretty cool & the fact that you care about that place as much as I do really shows your inner selves."

The elevator stopped at the 9th floor and arrived at room 909 as she got out her keys "Well boys, I'm sorry but I gotta go to work. I hope we can come up with a plan on how to get that money in the morning."

"Yeah I guess" replied Jake.

“Bye!”

“Bye” Elwood replied.

Maria stepped into her room and closed the door behind her before dropping her guitar case near her bed. She quickly fixed her hair, her makeup, and her clothes & walked off out the hotel and down the street to a nearby bar where she worked as a "waitress/occasional performer". As she made her way to the bar, she began to think about the two men she had recently met today.

_I really don’t know what to make of those guys. They seem to care for the orphanage a lot, but…why do they dress the same? Why the shades?  At least the shorter brother is kinda cute, I guess. His brother however…_

Maria blushed as her thoughts trailed to the younger Blues Brother.

_I wouldn’t mind getting to know him a bit better…though I wish i could see what’s behind those Ray-Bans_

* * *

Meanwhile, The boys unlock Jake's room & look around inside. The hotel room was a lot bigger than Elwood's' apartment itself, so he was quite impressed.

_Wow, both a TV and two beds?!_

Unfortunately, Jake began shaking his head.

"I don't like this." He commented

Elwood cocked his eyebrow in confusion “Why? We basically got this place for free. Plus, it's a hell of a lot bigger than my place. We wouldn’t have been able to fit"

"Not the room, the broad!" Jake explained "I don't trust that woman at all. Why would she give two men she barely knows shelter?"

"Maybe its because she's thankful we're willing to help save the orphanage & she wants to help us out." Elwood commented.

Jake gave him a look butsimply shrugged it off.

"Whatever man, this whole thing is still weird. We just need to focus on one thing; Getting the band back together."

Elwood then began to feel uneasy. “Well uh…getting the band back together might…not be that easy, Jake“

“What are you talking about?”

“They split. Got themselves straight jobs“ replied Elwood "and another thing…um…Steve retired.”

Jake coughed on the cigarette he was lighting up "What? Steve? As in Steve 'The Colonel' Cropper?"

"Yeah. He got married and…”

"When the hell did this happen?" Jake asked angrily

"When you were locked up, of course!" replied Elwood getting fed up. "Look, I don't like it as much as you do, but unfortunately, we're gonna have to look for a new lead guitarist."

"That's not the only thing that's pissing me off.” Jake shouted “You were supposed to keep in touch with the band! I kept asking if we were gonna play again!”

"What was I gonna do?” asked Elwood "Take away your only hopes? Take away the only thing that kept you going in there? I took the liberty of bullshitting you, okay?“

"You lied to me” growled Jake

"It wasn't lies, it was just…bullshit"

Jake was silent until he shrugged his shoulders sadly. "Whatever man. I can’t believe The Colonel's gone. He was the only kickass blues guitarist who had soul. Who the hell would replace him?"

Elwood shrugged his shoulders when he suddenly remembered of a certain guitarist he and Jake met today.

_But..would Jake be on board with a female guitarist in the band? And would she be on board with us?_

"I don't know about this, but maybe we could ask Maria. She did say she used to be in a band."

"I don't know" replied Jake in doubt “We would need to see how good she is.”

Elwood nodded his head. “True”

Jake checked his watch and noticed the time. It was 12:30 in the afternoon and he still had not eaten since he woke up and left Joliet.

“Hey Elwood, let’s go eat somewhere and get a drink. I’m starved”

“Okay”

* * *

Meanwhile at The Dive, Maria and the bar’s house band were busy onstage tuning their instruments. Sounds of guitar strings and drum thuds filled the stage as they were anxiously waiting for their chance to perform onstage in front of the patrons. The bar itself was pretty packed especially for lunch hour, much to Maria’s relief.

_Maybe there's gonna a record producer in the audience._ She began to think. The bell at hung above the front door rang loudly as the door opened and she heard familiar voices.

"I like the music atmosphere in this place.”

"Yeah, it's not bad.”

She looked over her shoulders & found The Blues Brothers looking around the place in curiosity. They sat down at two empty stools by the bar and chatted with the bartender. Maria looked over at Elwood out of the corner of her eyes, and found her cheeks going red.

_He’s here!_

She smiled at herself and twirled her hair with her finger as she thought of a way to impress him. She made her way to some of the members of the house band

“Hey guys, I have a set list I wanna do tonight…”

As Maria and the band were getting ready and tuning up, Jake and Elwood ordered their food to the waitress with Jake wanting chicken wings and Elwood having his signature white toast, much to the confusion of the waitress. Once she got their order and walked away, Jake and Elwood looked around the bar and noticed its more run down look.

“Not too bad.” Jake commented.

Elwood nodded in agreement.

They turned right back to the bar as the owner of the bar took the stage.

“Welcome everybody to The Dive!”

A few people gave a round of applause as the brothers disregarded the bar owner and took a sip of their beer.

“Thank you! This afternoon and tonight only, we actually have one of the former members of Instant Karma with us today, making her solo debut! Give some love..to Maria Valens!”

Jake and Elwood spun in their chairs and faced the stage as they saw Maria walk upstage with a microphone stand and the audience roared.

_it looks like she has some sort of an audience._ Elwood thought to himself _Let’s see how good she really is…_

Maria got comfortable and suddenly grabbed hold the mic as she wailed

_“Why don’t we do it in the road?!!”_

_T_ he band suddenly exploded into the song as cheers and whistles filled the room. The brothers raised their eyebrows and nearly spat out their drink at the sudden wave of energy Maria and the band gave out while playing a loud groovy melody.

_“Why don’t we do it in the road?!!”_

_“Why don’t we do it in the road?!! Yeahhhhhh! Why don’t we do iiiit in the road?_

_Mmmmm baby…”_

She grasped on the microphone with such fierce intensity as she sang into it, almost like if she was angry and choking it. She swayed her hips around, dancing to the song, as her rough, raspy singing voice rang throughout the bar. Jake and Elwood continued to watch her onstage as they, especially Elwood, studied her stage presence.

_“No one will be watching us, why don’t we do it in the road?”_

“I think this is my new favorite song. I can relate to it.” Jake shouted over the music to Elwood, jokingly.

Elwood said nothing as he was frozen in his seat and couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He found himself turning red and forming a sweat on his brow as he took off his hat and scratched the back of his neck.

_Holy shit, she has a really powerful voice._

Maria let out a rather surprising shriek as she threw her head back.

_“WHY DOOONT we do it in the road?!!”_

Many of the men in the bar whistled and cheered as Elwood continued to watch her in silence.

_“Why don’t we do it in the road?!!”_

“She seems to have a lot of fun on there” Elwood commented to Jake. “And she’s really good”

_“Why don’t we do it do it in the road?!! Yeahhhhhh! Why don’t we do iiiit in the road?_

_Uh huhhhhhh_

Onstage, Maria noticed the Blues Brothers watching her performance and decided to add in a bit of spice to her performance. She turned to her side, ran a hand through her hair and swiveled her hips to the rhythm of the song, making her butt more noticeable and treating the microphone stand like it was a stripper pole. The brothers now understood why she had such a huge following.

_“No one will be watching us, why don’t we do it in the road?”_

She purposefully leaned forward and made her cleavage more noticeable while making eye contact with Elwood.

_I said, no one will be watching us.._

She flipped her hair backwards and swiveled her hips slowly

_Why don’t we do it in the road?_

The audience went wild as cheers claps and whistles flooded the room after the final note. Maria spotted Elwood in the crowd and gave him a flirty wink as Elwood felt himself turn pink.

“I gotta admit,” Jake commented as he took a bite of his chicken wing. “She has stage presence”

“Y..yeah…” Elwood stammered in reply as he put his hat back on and turned his back from the stage again.

Jake turned to his brother and raised his eyebrow “You ok there?”

Elwood nodded his head “Y..yeah I’m just..um…”

Jake gave a sly snicker and nudged Elwood in the ribs with his elbow “You have a thing for her, don’t you?”

Elwood couldn’t reply as Maria got her red Fender Stratocaster from the backstage and approached the mic again

“Alright! That was my little homage to The Beatles…”

She ran her hand through her hair, away from her eyes

“Alright…you guys should know that this guy is one of my biggest influences. This is for Jimi!”

Jake rolled his eyes “Really? Her playing Hendrix?”

Elwood narrowed his eyes in confusion “What? You don’t believe she can do it?”

“No, not really.”

Maria focused on her guitar and began playing a funky into as she muffled strings and strummed. Upon hearing the introduction, Jake and Elwood recognized the song as “Voodoo Child”. Maria got into the opening riff and Elwood watched her right hand slide and bend across the fretboards as the other hand focused on the lower part of the strings. While onstage, he was always standing next to Steve Cropper to watch him play and admire the techniques and mechanics of how he would play. Maria’s playing was no exception. Maria got into the main riff as the room applauded and she bit her lip as she began to feel the power of the song within her. It was more euphoric playing her instrument than when she sang.

She got near the microphone and began singing in her raspy voice

_“Well, I stand up next to a mountain_

_And I chop it down with the edge of my hand_

_Well, I stand up next to a mountain_

_Chop it down with the edge of my hand_

_Pick up all the pieces and make an island_

_Might even raise just a little sand_

_'Cause I'm a voodoo child yeahhhh hahaha!_

_Lord knows I'm a voodoo child_

She continued the song, sorely focused on her playing as she kept on looking down at her guitar as she played. She then began an impromptu playing session with a lot of of the whammy bar and the pickup switch as her solo, making the crowd go wild even more. The Blues Brothers, meanwhile, sat there in awe as they watched her play. It was more intriguing for them to see her play than it was to see her sing and swing her hips.

_“I didn't mean to take you up all your sweet time_

_I'll give it right back to you one of these days_

_I said, I didn't mean to take you up all your sweet time_

_I'll give it right back to you one of these days…”_

Elwood turned to Jake and shouted over the music “So…I think we found our new guitarist. She’s great!”

_And looks like it too…_

Jake looked up at Maria as she continued to sing

_“And if I don't meet you no more in this world_

_Then I'll, I'll meet you in the next one_

_And don't be late, don't be late_

_'Cause I'm a voodoo child yeahhhhh_

_Lord knows I'm a voodoo child!!”_

“Elwood…”

A smile slowly formed on Jake’s face as he faced his brother. “You’re right. She’s in!”

The brothers clinked their beer bottles together as a toast, continued to drink, and watch their new band member finish up the Hendrix masterpiece.


	4. Impressing

A few hours passed by since Maria performed in front of Jake and Elwood and things had simmered down. The bar wasn’t as full as it was before as only a fraction of the patrons remained to listen to her. Maria went through an impressive set list from a variety of artists including Elvis, Billy Joel, The Beatles, Chuck Berry, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Bob Dylan, The Doors, Buffalo Springfield and Jefferson Airplane, before she decided to close her show with some Creedence Clearwater Revival. She grabbed her acoustic guitar and moved the barstool downstage before she was adjusted her microphone. Meanwhile, The Blues Brothers had moved up front, closer to the stage where there was more room. Jake took out a cigarette and began to light it as Maria began playing muted strums and a few strums on B flat. The brothers looked up and concentrated on her as she tapped her feet to the rhythm of the song and she sang the cheerful song with a big smile on her face:

_“Just got home from Illinois lock the front door oh boy!_

_Got to sit down take a rest on the porch._

_Imagination sets in pretty soon I'm singin'_

_Doo doo doo lookin' out my back door.”_

Elwood gave her a small smirk as he began to nod his head and tap his foot under the table to the rhythm of the song, genuinely enjoying the song.

_There's a giant doing cartwheels, a statue wearin' high heels._

_Look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn._

_A dinosaur Victrola list'ning to Buck Owens._

_Doo doo doo lookin' out my back door._

_Tambourines and elephants are playing in the band._

_Won't you take a ride on the flyin' spoon?_

_Doo doo doo._

_Wond'rous apparition provided by magician._

_Doo doo doo lookin' out my back door._

She began playing the solo as she hopped in place, dancing to the rhythm. Maria then spotted Elwood getting into the song and gave him a genuine smile.

_I guess I gained a few new fans tonight. Probably the best looking one I’ve ever had…_

_Tambourines and elephants are playing in the band._  
Won't you take a ride on the flyin' spoon?  
Doo doo doo.  
Bother me tomorrow, today, I'll buy no sorrows.  


_Doo doo doo lookin' out my back door._

She played the muted chords again and provided the song’s key change. _  
_

_Forward troubles Illinois, lock the front door oh boy!  
Look at all the happy creatures dancing on the lawn._

She suddenly stopped playing her guitar as she let go of it and let it hang from its strap. Elwood momentarily got confused until Maria began snapping her fingers to the slowed down tempo of the song. Now it was just her raspy voice, echoing throughout the bar and nothing else.

_Bother me tomorrow, today, I'll buy no sorrows.  
_

_Doo doo doo lookin' out my back door._

Maria suddenly picked up her guitar again and played the last few notes. With a final strum, she bowed and gave acknowledgement to the house band, extending her hand towards them. She got off of the stage and headed towards the bar. The brothers watched her go, still in awe & their minds a bit off, however when reality kicked in, they rushed & stumbled towards the bar.

“Let me have some of my Buddy, Wiser.” Maria told the bartender.

The bartender nodded and handed her a bottle.

"Maria!"

“Hey!”

She smiled smugly and turned around to face the brothers with her back slumped against the bar.

"Yeah?" she asked coyly.

She knew she had impressed them, and she felt accomplished that she did so. _I finally caught the tall one's attention_ she thought to herself

"That was amazing. I had no idea you could play like that! I told Elwood I doubted you could play Hendrix, but you proved me wrong” Jake commented

“it’s what I do, babe.” Maria said with a wink and a gulp of her beer.

“Listen.” Jake began “Elwood and I have a plan to get the band back together and use the proceeds to give to St Helen’s.”

Elwood approached her, seemingly a bit nervous “It would be great if you would join the band."

"Yeah, if you join" Jake told her "I hereby give you permission to date my brother."

Maria cocked an eyebrow as Elwood turned bright red, gave Jake a look and smacked him on the back of the head

"Ow!"

She laughed, amused with what he had done.

"Alright boys" she told them in her smooth voice. "I'm in.”

She held out her hand for Jake to shake.

“ And since you guys are pretty cool…”

She let go of her handshake from Jake and offered it to Elwood

“I’m willing to help you recruit your band members”

Elwood grabbed hold of her hand and shook it, realizing how surprisingly rough they were.

“Umm..thanks.” Elwood replied. “Glad you could help.”

* * *

 

The next day, Jake was in the front seat of the Bluesmobile as Maria sat in the back. They were waiting for Elwood to quit his job at the glue factory.

"I wonder what he's gonna say to them. ' _Boss, I gotta quit. My band's coming together & I gotta quit this shitty job' _" Maria impersonated with Elwood's accent.

"Knowing him, he'll come up with some smartass excuse on why he's gonna quit." Replied Jake as he tried to light his cigarette with the lighter in the car.

“I’m surprised he hasn’t done this sooner” she commented “I don’t think I could work in a glue factory at all. I’m not into getting high…with glue anyway…”

 

Meanwhile inside the factory, Elwood walked towards his work station as he nodded hello to a fellow coworker before nixing a spray bottle of glue.

After taking the glue, he made his way towards his bosses' office, feeling confident that today would be the last day he didn't have to work at the godforsaken place and show his eyes with those stupid goggles. Like his brother, he preferred his trusty black Ray Bans.

Elwood arrived in his boss's small office & sat down. His boss briefly glanced up at him from his desk and returned to his paperwork.

“Hello, Elwood. What’s on your mind?”

"Sir, I think I gotta quit.”

"Why is that?”

Elwood paused, trying to come up with an excuse. He obviously couldn't leave saying he was going to reunite his band.

“I’m…I’m going to become a priest.”

The boss looked up once again and smiled a bit, liking Elwood's answer & knowing he's been a lifelong Catholic.

"Well ok then" he replied calmly “Listen, I’ll have your check mailed to you."

Elwood got up from his seat, relieved his lie worked & shook his now ex-bosses hand "God bless you sir".

“Why, thank you.”

As he left, he took off his goggles, tosses them, picked up his trusty briefcase & puts back on his black suit.When he was approaching the exit, he noticed something wrong. Everything seemed brighter.

_Oh shit, my shades!_

_And Maria was waiting outside for me.._

He began searching frantically for his shades in his case & in his pockets. He wasn't ready to let Maria see what he really looked like. If she can see the inner side of Elwood, then maybe he'd consider letting her see his face. Besides, he has never taken off his sunglasses for any woman. After a few seconds, he sighed in relief as he pulled out his shades from his suit pocket. He put on the shades & walked outside towards the Blues-mobile, now ready to recruit his band members.

"Jeez finally!" Jake complained.

"Oh be quiet” replied Elwood as he got in & shut the door "I didn't even take that long!"

"So do you have the address to where we are going?" asked Maria

"Yeah, I found this"

He got out a faded card from his wallet & showed it to Maria & Jake

_"Weddings, parties, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, Presenting: Murph & the Magic Tones."_

Below that, were a phone number & an address leading to the Holiday Inn.

"Whoa, poor them." commented Maria as she read the card "That place sucks for a gig. If they're not willing to come back & prefer to stay there, then something's wrong with them."

The trio arrived at The Holiday inn, and entered a little bar called “The Armata Room” which was heavily decorated with red. Red shag carpeting, red walls, tables, chairs, even the utensils were all red.

Maria gave out a smirk ”This place either symbolizes a lot of anger & angst…"

"Or love" interrupted Jake as he glanced at Elwood who adjusted his tie uncomfortably.

Murph and the Magic Tones were singing a song called “Quando Quando Quando" which sounded horrible in Maria's opinion since Murph didn't have the proper accent for the song.

_I don’t speak Italian, but even I know thats not how your pronounce it!!_

Apparently, everyone else thought so too since no one was paying attention to them. Once they were done with their song, The Brothers approached them & for a brief moment, the band seemed to be happy to see them. It wasn't until Elwood introduced the guys to Maria…

"Guys, meet our new guitar player. Maria Valens."

The guys began to get uncomfortable. Not because of the fact their guitar players a woman, but because they actually have a guitar player. They assumed the Brothers wanted to reunite the band without Steve Cropper.

" **Our** new guitar player?" asked Murph

"Yeah." Replied Jake "We're getting the band back together."

“Wait..wait..now hold on a minute!” Willie Hall objected to Jake “You’re out and free from prison, but do you got the money you owe us, motherfucker?”

“Look, let’s get something straight here” Elwood replied in Jake’s defense. “The only reason why he got locked in the first place, was to cover you guys.”

The band, including Maria, looked surprised.

“Really?” she asked.

Elwood nodded to her and faced the band. “He pulled that job to pay for the band's room service tab from that Chiwanous gig in Pols City.”

“You did?” Duck Dunn asked, not believing what he heard.

“Thats right…so I don’t wanna hear any of this small change shit.” Jake said, taking a stand.

“So let’s get this band back together!” Maria added in with some enthusiasm.

The band remained quiet, still unsure about whether to say yes to the offer. Jake and Elwood’s impatience grew and Maria gave an impatient sigh.

“You guys are supposed to be the backbone of this band.” she dictated “The nerve centre of a great rhythm and blues band. We as a group can make this live, breathe, and jump again! Because well…”

She added a sarcastic laugh.

“Murph and the Magic Tones? Really?”

Murph narrowed his eyes “What’s wrong with that?!” He asked defensively.

“Look at you in those candy ass monkey suits!” Jake commented “and I thought I had it back at Joliet!”

“At least these are different clothes, sucker” Willie retorted “You’re still wearing the same shit you had on three years ago.”

“Maria aint lying though.” Duck added “We had a band powerful enough to turn goat piss into gasoline.”

“But that was with Steve Cropper.” Bones Malone added.

He gave a look to Maria.

"Are you any good?"

She didn't say anything. Instead she got up from her seat and grabbed an unused guitar from the stage. She tuned it up and played a bit of "Johnny B Goode" nonchalantly, as if she was bored and it was in her second nature. Her Johnny B Goode riff then blended into the opening riff to Roll Over Beethoven. The rest of the band seemed impressed as Maria gave them a wink and returned the guitar to its rightful place onstage.

"Even if we did reunite” Willie Hall added. “I doubt you'd bring back Blue Lou, Mr. Fabulous & Matt Murphy. They all got better jobs Mr. Fabulous runs the Chez Paul & Matt & Lou work as assistant managers there. I doubt you'd persuade them to come back."

"We'll get them. Don't worry" Elwood replied as he chewed on a dry piece of toast that he got from his jacket pocket. Maria hid her giggles, still getting used to her friends' weird eating habits.

"So how long have you been playing?" Willie Hall asked Maria.

“Since I was about 4 years old“

"And how old are you?"

"25"

He seemed impressed & Murph asked her "What type of music do you usually play?"

"I can play Rock N Roll, & Blues guitar." She replies honestly. "I also used to be in a punk band before…umm..we split. I think the person who inspired me to play was…"

"Chuck Berry?" asks Tom 'Bones' Malone, referencing to her playing “Johnny B Goode”

"No." she replied “Actually, he’s a big influence but not my biggest. That would have to go to Jimi Hendrix. He did come up with the term “Blues on Acid”

They nodded in approval, looking impressed.

Maria’s tone calmed down as she looked like she was pleading to the band “I know I have big shows to fill, but all I really ask is for the opportunity to play my instrument.”

Jake and Elwood were surprised by her suddenly letting her guard down.

"Just as long as you know your stuff & have good influences" declared Murph "I'm fine with her being in this band.”

The other guys agreed amongst each other & Maria smiled, finally feeling she fit in somewhere.


	5. The Chez Paul Experience

After their encounter with some of the bandmates, Elwood, Jake, and Maria made their way downtown, looking for The Chez Paul french restaurant where the other bandits supposedly were.

“How exactly are we going to persuade those guys to come with us?" asked Maria in doubt. "They're in charge of a fancy and expensive French restaurant & you're asking them to join the band?! It's like trying to make Babe Ruth go into a minor league team." She then stopped talking, realizing what she said.

_I called them crappy._

"Sorry I didn't mean it like…"

"We get the point don't worry." Jake interrupted "And I have a plan."

"Good, what's the plan?" asked Elwood.

Jake smiled smugly & turned to the backseat to face Maria. "We're gonna use your looks to persuade the guys to join us."

"Wait, Wait!” interrupted Maria with a chuckle and hand raised ”My looks? You think I'm actually good looking enough to persuade your ex band mates?"

Jake shrugged "Eh, I don't know. You’re not really my type.”

"You're easy on the eyes" replied Elwood. "I think it'll work."

Maria blinked once, caught off guard by his comment

”I’ll take that as a compliment" she replied with a small blush on her cheeks.

 _Whoa, what the hell did I just say?_ He thought in his head _Did I just say that out loud? Shit!_

When the trio arrived at the restaurant and got out of the car, Jake got in front of Maria, checking her out & trying to spot any flaws she had.

"Ok uh…" he began "You need to make yourself more presentable."

"But…" began Maria but Elwood interrupted her

"Just let her be herself, Jake. She doesn't need improvement."

 _Aw! How thoughtful!_ She thought as she blushed some more & gave him a smile.

Jake shrugged & began walking towards the door, not really caring what was gonna happen just as long as they recruit their band mates.

Maria turned to Elwood shyly ”Thank you for what you said. That was sweet of you.”

He didn't say anything; he just shrugged a bit & smiled humbly, but on the inside, he felt shy that he actually stood up for her.

 _He's adorable!_ She thought.

"C'mon! Let's get them!" Jake cried out impatiently.

Elwood & Maria suddenly snapped out of it and approached the restaurant. As they went inside, they stared at the atmosphere in awe. The chandelier was hanging just a few feet above them with the finest diamonds imported from every jewelry store in Chicago. The finest china was locked away on display as historical artifacts, even though Elwood tried to pick the lock & steal them, much to Maria's amusement. The diners especially looked impressive, wearing tuxes & fine silk dresses.

"This place is way out of our league." Maria murmured to Elwood.

"Agreed"

"There he is. Mr. Fabulous himself" Jake pointed out towards a man who was standing behind a podium and looked really busy with reservations & calls. "He's the guy you need to impress."

"This is gonna be so weird.” she replied uneasily.

"You said you wanted to help us out" Jake told her.

She took a deep breath, knowing he had a point. Using the china plates as her mirrors, she quickly checked her makeup, hair, and cleavage. She then strutted toward Mr. Fabulous

"Excuse me?” She asked him in her most seductive voice.

He looked up & his eyes shone with admiration. She looked beautiful with her long wavy black hair, chocolate brown eyes, long lashes, & pouty lips. Elwood's pulse began to race in both jealousy & admiration.

 _I wish she can look at me like that._ He thought to himself.

 _I guess Elwood was right_ Maria thought uncomfortably as she noticed Mr. Fabulous's gaze. "My friends & I would like a reservation please…and a favor to ask you."

"Certainly Miss…" he began but stopped once he saw the Brothers by Maria's side. "Oh no, wasn't it supposed to be five years? Did you get five years?” he asked Jake with a glare.

“Mr. Fabulous! How wonderful it is to see you!” Jake cheerfully exclaimed“You’re looking younger than ever”

“Wait, you guys can’t come in here!” Mr. Fabulous argued “This place is too expensive for you.”

“Nonsense my good fellow!” Jake replied with enthusiasm “Elwood, Maria, and I have come to dine to celebrate my early release & the induction of a new guitarist to the band."

Maria gave Mr. Fabulous a small wave.

"Wait…band? The band?" he asked

"Yeah, the band“ Maria replied.

Mr. Fabulous began to get frantic “Wait, let’s all talk outside. Let’s have a cup of coffee outside.”

Jake pretended to get offended “Why heavens, no! We seek a full meal and all the compliments of the house!”

Maria quickly caught on what Jake was doing, so she decided to play along.

“Come now, boys!” Maria called out to the brothers “Let’s adjourn ourselves to the nearest table!”

The trio linked arms, with Maria being in the middle of the two men, as they walked into the dining room with their heads help up high. The trio began thinking of a plan as Elwood pulled out a chair for Maria.

“I say, sir! I give my sincerest gratitude for your actions!” Maria joked with a fake British accent, mocking the upper class all around them.

Elwood smirked at her as they sat down on a table & incoherently tucked napkins under their collars as bibs. They waited & waited until Jake let out a deafening whistle that made the diners turn their heads towards the trio.

Maria looked around at the glares ”What are you looking at, you corporate nimrods?!” She called out rudely "Can't a guy call his waiter?"

The diners scoff & give her dirty looks before they return to their dining.

She rolled her eyes and murmured “Damn fucking uppity ups ruining this country…”

A waiter approaches the trio, with a small look of disgust for their choice of manners.

"May I help you this evening?" he asked.

“Give us a bottle of your finest champagne.” Jake demanded “Some shrimp cocktails and some bread for my brother”

Jake pointed to Elwood as he nodded his head.

“We have a Don Perignon at $120“ the waiter replied uneasily.

"So let it be" Maria replied as she waved her hand, dismissing the waiter.

Their appetizers & drinks soon came to the table as one waiter offered to pour the champagne. Jake held up his glass & the waiter poured his glass. Elwood raised his glass but the waiter hesitated.

"Wrong glass sir." he told Elwood rudely.

“Goddammit dude, really?!”Maria asked him annoyed by the pickiness he demonstrated. "Does it really fucking matter what glass he uses?"

She held up two glasses with different shapes.

"What's the big damn difference between these two besides the shape? Huh?! Both are glass, & both hold drinks so it doesn't really matter what glass he uses for champagne. God, you upper class bastards are picky as hell!”

The waiter rolled his eyes & poured Elwood's drink. He hesitated on pouring Maria's until Elwood replied sternly with "Show some good manners & Pour the lady her drink."

The waiter grimaced as he pours Maria's drink & walked away.

They raised a toast

 

_Clink_

 

And began slurping their drinks…rather loudly & annoyingly. Some diners grimaced while a few turned their heads to face the trio. Elwood tore a piece of a roll and aimed it for Jake's mouth. Luckily, he made it & Jake chewed on it happily. Maria meanwhile put her dirty Chuck Taylors on the table, leaned back on her chair and picked her teeth with her steak knife while looking at her reflection on a spoon.

“Hey Elwood, toss me a roll.”

Elwood got a warm roll from the basket and tossed it across the table. Maria caught it with one hand.

“Thank you!”

Maria munched on the roll and Mr. Fabulous stormed over to the table angrily.

"I've been getting complaints because of you three. C'mon, get out or I'll call the cops!"

Jake responds coyly "You would do that to me, would you man?"

"He just got out of Joliet, he's on parole. You can't call the cops on him, man!" replied Elwood as he chewed on a roll.

"We'll stop once you agree to come back." Maria retorts.

“I’m sorry, but who are you again?!” Mr Fabulous asked, incredulously.

Maria extended a buttery hand for him to shake.

“Maria Valens. Born 10-9- ’55. Musician. Guitarist. How are ya?!”

Mr. Fabulous gave her a weird look, while Matt Murphy came from behind with Blue Lou next to him.

“Shit, The Blues Brothers!" he said, happy to see his long lost band mates. The brothers greeted him & Lou as they talked about Jake's time in Joliet. "Matt, Lou this is our new guitarist Maria Valens." Jake introduced. Maria smiled & shook hands with Matt & blue Lou.

 _They seem nice_ , she thought, _I hope it's easier convincing them to join again than Mr. Fabulous._

"It's always nice to meet another fellow guitarist like myself." Maria told him kindly.

"Likewise" he responded with a smile

"So we're getting the band back together; you in?" Jake asks the other guitar player & Saxophonist.

Blue Lou & Matt instantly took off their aprons, & put their platters they were holding to the side.

"Let's go!" they said in unison, obviously excited for them to be part of the band again.

"We can't go yet" replied Maria as she glanced smugly at Mr. Fabulous. " _Someone_ has to give in first."

"Absolutely not! I don't care how hot you are, I'm not gonna be persuaded by you to be back in the band!" he responds with absolute certainty.

A sting of jealousy pierced Elwood as he locked his jaw & flinched a bit at the word "Hot" He obviously wasn't the only one who found Maria attractive; but he personally wouldn’t have said that to her.

Maria rolled her eyes & began talking to Jake quite loudly, provoking Mr. Fabulous "So Jake, did you get that oozing scab on your leg checked?"

He smiled a bit & played along. "When they peeled off the excess skin, they showed it to me & in my opinion; I thought it looked like a strip of bacon!"

The diners around them felt a slight pang of sickness as they were eating. Jake looked around & continued playing along with the gross conversation he was having

"So how's your job at the morgue, Maria?"

She chuckles & responds "This one guy lost a lot of blood because he was a prisoner in his country. I think his punishment was that they cut off his fingertips & fed them to some wolves…"

"Ok ok! I'll play! Just get out of here!" Mr Fabulous then declared loudly enough for the whole restaurant to hear. The trio smiled triumphantly & began walking out, feeling accomplished.

After the majority of the band already left the restaurant, Maria extended a hand for Mr. Fabulous to shake and gave a big smile.

“Nice doing business with you.”

He looked at her hand warily and hesitated to shake her hand.

“C’mon! I won’t bite! We’re bandmates now!”

Mr. Fabulous rolled his eyes and limply shook her hand. Maria suddenly grabbed him by the bowtie and forced him closer to her.

“Oh and a little warning, for ya. If you call me 'hot' one more time, I will choke you with my guitar strings.”

She let him go and strutted towards the Bluesmobile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Fun fact for you: I got the idea from an old SNL sketch with John Belushi, When Maria mentioned about the 'prisoner' and his fingertips being fed to some wolverines. It was his very first sketch & it was the very first SNL sketch ever. In the skit, John was taking speech classes & he was repeating what the speech coach said. The coach said "I would like to feed your fingertips to the wolverines." As part of the speech therapy thing, so there!  
> Please R&R


	6. Ride 'em in, Rawhide!

 

Once all of the band members were recruited, Jake realized that he needed to book a gig **_now_** or else their hope for saving the orphanage will soon be gone. Some members were in the Blues-mobile while the other guys were in a separate car with their newly bought instruments. Elwood drove to a nearby Howard Johnson’s restaurant so the guys & Maria could grab a bite even though he personally wasn't that hungry.

The majority of the band got out of the car & Jake told them "You guys go inside & grab a bite. I need to make a phone call."

“Now Jake,” Mr. Fabulous began “does this phone call concern our first gig?”

“Have I ever lied to you?” Jake answered defensively.

Maria looked confused but soon went back to getting her electric guitar from the trunk.

The guys began walking towards the Denny's & Jake asked Elwood "How much money you got?"

"A quarter" he responded simply.

"That's enough for a phone call, let me borrow it."

Elwood fished in his pockets for the quarter & Jake took off with it to the nearest phone booth. As Elwood rolled up the window and sat silently in the car, he noticed Maria was with him, practicing guitar arpeggios in the backseat. _I guess she's not hungry either_

He looked at her through the rearview mirror

"Wow, that looks complex."

“it can be“ she replied, not looking up from the guitar neck “but it’s good exercise for the fingers and to keep with changing scales.”

"Ah." Was all he could say.

He had no clue what else to say after that.

_C’mon man, this is the first time you've been alone with her. Make a good impression!_

"So uh…" he continued "You don't have to sit in the back anymore. You can ride shotgun if you want."

She gave him a small smile at his generosity & she got out of the car to come into the front with Elwood.

_Finally I can have a conversation with him alone!_ She thought to herself excitedly _._

She got into the car and shut the door.

"So who do you think is better at guitar, George Harrison or John Lennon?” he asked her with a smug half smile.

_Let’s see if talking to her about her kind of music breaks the ice…_

"George most definitely." She responded “He can play twenty six instruments. Plus, he was pretty cool & relaxed while John was all over the place with his comment about 'The Beatles being better than Jesus'. Showmanship really got into his head when he said that."

"Well" replied Elwood thoughtfully "I think he meant that popularity triumphs over religion, which I think is sad, but true. Most teenagers today would turn to their pop & rock music instead of God for the hopes of resolving their problems."

Maria narrowed her eyebrows.

”Huh." She replied in thought "You're right. I never thought of it that way."

_Why the hell am I talking to him about me? I wanna get to know him, not talk about me…_

_But maybe he wanted to know about me…_

Silence filled the car once again, as both musicians didn’t know what else to talk about. After a few moments, Maria broke the silence.

"Since you know about my influences, who influenced you & Jake to pursue Blues music?"

He smiled a bit, in thought about who he loved to listen to growing up. "Oh we listened to a lot of people. James Brown, Muddy Waters, Elmore James, Ray Charles, Smokey Robinson, Cab Calloway…"

"I love Cab Calloway!" Maria interrupted excitedly & then blushed.

"Wow" replied Elwood with his eyebrows raised "You know who Cab Calloway is?”

"He sings Minnie The Moocher, a timeless classic!" She told him "How can anyone not know that song? Or Reefer Man? That one’s really good!”

"Yeah it is.“ He replied with a grin on his face.

_Wow, I haven't smiled like that in forever_

_He has such a nice smile._ Maria thought as she noticed Elwood's smile.

She beamed at him & told him as she batted her eyes _"_ You should smile more often like that. I like it."

He says nothing; he only smiled humbly

_She likes my smile? Does that mean she likes me?_

“So uh…" he continued shyly "What about Muddy Waters?”

“‘Got My Mojo Workin’ is really good,” Maria replied “but I love ‘Baby, Please Don’t Go’ especially for it’s guitar.”

She played the song's opening notes in the key of G.

“That one’s a personal favorite of mine to play on the harp.” Elwood said

He took out his harmonica from his pocket and began playing the song along with her. Maria raised her eyebrows in surprise.

_Wow, he really can play that harp!_

She bit her bottom lip and nodded her head to the rhythm of the song as the two musicians had an impromptu jam session.

_“Baby, please don't go”_ Maria sang as Elwood showed no signs of halting his music.

_“Baby, please don't go”_

_Baby, please don't go, down to New Orleans_

_You know I love you so_

_Before I be your dog_

_Before I be your dog_

_Before I be your dog_

_I get you way'd out here, and let you…_

“Hey, when's the concert?!”

**Tap tap tap**.

Elwood & Maria jumped and stopped their jam session as they saw Jake peering into the driver's window, looking highly amused with them as he tapped on the window. The two passengers in the car hastily adjusted in their seats, & cleared their throats uncomfortably. Elwood rolled down the driver’s window to hear Jake clearer.

"So what about the gig?" Elwood asked him in monotone.

"Good news & bad news on that." Jake replied as he got in the back seat of the car & shut the door. "Good news is that we have a gig."

"Sweet, my first gig as a part of this band!" Maria exclaimed excitedly.

She halted her words and turned to Jake, uneasily

”What's the bad news though?"

"Bad news is…the place is really far." He adds hastily. It wasn't what he wanted to say obviously.

"Where is it at?" she asked

"Bob's Country Bunker." Jake replied with a hint of despair in his voice "and tonight we're not "The Blues Brothers" anymore. We're now called 'The Good Ole' Boys.”

There was silence in the car.

Maria, after a while, lifted a finger “Jake…”

She pointed the finger at him.

“Did you steal a gig from some other band?”

Jake looked innocent as he looked around the car, avoiding eye contact with her.

“So what if I did? The real band was running late and I took the opportunity for ourselves!”

Elwood scowled at what Jake had done & Maria grumbled.

“Ohhhh that’s…just…great.“

* * *

 

When the band was done eating, everyone began heading down to Southern Illinois, away from Chicago & away from the bands’ comfort zone soon enough.

"We've been driving in this car for three hours!" complained Mr. Fabulous from the backseat of the Bluesmobile "Where the hell is this place?"

"I told you, it'll take us a little while to get there." Jake explained calmly.

Elwood then notices the sign "Bob's Country Bunker" and drives into the parking lot.

"There's no way in hell this is the place." Mr. Fabulous complained again

"Well too bad for you, because it is." Maria snipped at him, fed up with his complaining.

After Elwood parked the Bluesmobile outside the venue, the band picked up their instruments from the trunks of the two cars. Maria grabbed her guitar case and flung it over her shoulders as she joined the two brothers inside to introduce themselves to the owner. As soon as the trio walked into the bar, they instantly felt out of place. Dust was sprawled all over the cement floor as the employees were busy setting up their wooden tables & promotional beer signs all over the place. One older looking gentlemen was playing an arcade game on the side of the room where the restrooms were. The trio sat on some bar stools as a friendly looking bartender approached them.

"Howdy and welcome to Bob's country Bunker. What would you like? A beer? Ya' hungry?" she asked them eagerly.

"No thank you ma'am, but we would like a few beers later on. We'll be here all night since we're the band!" replied Jake.

“You are?! Oh that's nice!" she replied happily with a big smile that showed all her teeth.

_Wow, she's so friendly_ thought Maria _If she gets anymore sweeter, I'll get cavities_.

“Hey Bob!” the bartender called out to the old man at the game “This is the band!”

He turned around and waved his hand “Alright!”

“Um” Elwood began to the bartender “What kind of music do you usually have here?"

"Oh we've got both kinds; we've got Country **and** Western!"

The trio glanced at each other

“Oh, joy.” replied Maria sarcastically in monotone. "Well, I mean, CBGB's was supposed to play Country, Bluegrass & Blues, hence the name CBGB's, but they play Punk music now so maybe we can turn this place around."

"I doubt it" replied Jake disappointedly "This isn't New York City and I don’t think this place is going to change its style anytime soon.”

She shrugged, knowing he had a point & went to go help the guys set up & tune up their instruments. As Maria was tuning up her guitar, Elwood approached her with a piece of paper.

“Hey Maria.”

She looked up from her guitar and smiled warmly “Hi.”

He gave her the piece of paper. “I don’t think you’re gonna need this tonight, but this is for future reference.”

Maria took the paper and glanced over it.

“This is the list of songs we usually perform.”

She read through the songs and looked up at him “Most of these I’m going to have to learn and practice on my own time.”

“That’s fine.” Elwood reassured “take as much time as you need to learn them.”

She smiled at him once again as she put the paper in her pocket. “Thank you.”

He gave her his half-smile, nodded his head to her in acknowledgement, and went off to look for Jake. She watched him go out of the corner of her eye and let out an almost dreamlike sigh. To her left, Matt Murphy saw her reaction, much to his amusement.

“Hey, Maria.”

She turned to Matt. “Yeah?”

“I think he likes you too.”

Maria looked confused, although her heart raced in excitement “How do you know that…?”

“Jake told us what he saw in the car.” Matt replied “I don’t think he’s ever had a woman he could just jam out with.”

Maria tried to maintain her cool as she pushed some stray hairs back “Oh wow…that’s cool”

 

* * *

 

About two hours later, Bob opened his bars doors & a whole rush of beer swilling rednecks came flooding in, sitting down as they sipped their beers & waited for their nightly entertainment. Maria watched the crowd uneasily from behind the chicken wire.

_I’m used to drunk punk rockers and dingy nightclubs, not this redneck and chicken wire bullshit.._

“Hey, Jake.”

Elwood showed Jake a list of requests Bob had given to him earlier & they began to feel uneasy.

"Jake, I don't think we know any of these songs."

Jake took the list and tossed it aside.

"No problem" the shorter Blues Brother replied confidently "They're just requests, they're not important. What's the first tune?"

"Gimme some Lovin' replied Murph form his key boards

"1.2. 1.2.3.4”

Maria, Don, Willie & Matt began playing the opening riff on their instruments as the Brothers were dancing along to the rhythm of the music. The horns began playing & Elwood introduced the band

"Good evening Ladies & Gentlemen, it's a pleasure to be here at Kokomo tonight. We're the Good ole' Blues Brothers…boys…band…from Chicago. I hope you like our show. I'm Elwood; this is my brother Jake on lead vocals. Take it away Jake!"

Jake began his vocals on the song made famous by The Spencer Davis Group

_Well my temperature's rising and my feet on the floor. Twenty people rockin' and there wanna go more. Let me in baby, I don't know what you've got but you'd better take it easy, this place is hot…_

_Whoah, this dude can sing._ Maria thought as she glanced at Jake from her station. _Being in this band won't be so bad after all._

Unfortunately, the guests weren't all too pleased with their playing asthey began booing and throwing their bottles at them.

_Thank god for the chicken wire._ She thought.

The lights suddenly turned off & the whole band stopped playing.

"Oh damn."

"Hey, why did they turn off the lights?" asked Murph

"Maybe they blew a fuse." Willie Hall commented

"Nuh uh, man. I've seen this before. These lights are off on purpose." Maria said to them uneasily.

The band got together in a huddle as the crowd still got restless.

"We need to come up with something and fast." Elwood dictated to the group.

Murph piped up ”Hey I got it. Remember the theme from 'Rawhide'?"

"Gil Favor, Rowdy Yates." Replied Elwood, indicating he knew the show.

"My dad watched it all the time; I learned how to play that song in dedication to him." Maria told the guys with a hint of sadness.

"What key?" asked Murph

“it’s A minor in the beginning but then there's a key change to B sharp after the first chorus." Maria told the guys.

"Alright; Rawhide at A minor!" Elwood called out to the rest of the guys as Jake stood, cross armed & looking at the audience, clearly upset he was forced to perform country. Maria began playing the A minor chord & the small riff in the beginning as Elwood began to sing for the first time in front of her.

_Rollin Rollin' Rollin'_

_Though the streams are swollen; Keep them doggies rollin' Rawhide!_

_Rain & Wind & weather; Hell-bent for leather; Wishing my gal was by my side…._

As he continued singing, Maria couldn't keep her eyes off of him, amazed that a deep voice was coming from a quiet guy like him. _Damn, what a_ _voice! Where did that come from? I thought he only played the harp!!_

Jake however wasn't so happy about the Country song, but he still performed a duet with his brother.

_Move 'em on_

_Hit 'em up!_

_Hit'em up_

_Move 'em on!_

_Move 'em on_

_Hit 'em up!_

_Rawhide!_

_Cut em out_

_Ride em in_

_Ride em in,_

_Cut em out_

_Cut em out_

_Ride 'em in Rawhiiiide!_

The key changed to B Sharp, but Elwood stood there frozen, unsure of what to say next

_Shit, I don't remember the rest of the song! Damn it Elwood, don't screw up on the first gig reunited with the band!_

The tension was felt onstage but the crowd was still roaring & throwing their bottles at them & the band wanted to keep them cheering until something could be done.

_Damn I hate it when this crap happens; it's irritating_! Maria thought _but Elwood seems so professional most of the time. Maybe tonight isn't his best night…_

Before she could even stop & think, Maria brought her microphone closer to her & she began filling in what Elwood forgot.

_Keep movin' movin' movin'._

_Though their disapproving,_

_Keep them doggies movin,_

_Rawhide_

The band still continued playing, hiding their surprise over the sudden emergence of their new band member.

_Don't try to understand 'em;_

_just rope throw and brand'em;_

_soon we'll be living high and wide_

As much as she didn't want to show it, a blush formed on her cheeks as she sang the next lyrics. _  
My hearts calculating, my true love will be waiting, be waiting at the end of my ride…_

She nudged Jake on the shoulder a bit, asking him to do backing vocals again.

_Move 'em on_

_Hit 'em up!_

_Hit'em up_

_Move 'em on!_

_Move 'em on_

_Hit 'em up!_

_Rawhide!_

_Cut em out_

_Ride em in_

_Ride em in,_

_Cut em out_

_Cut em out_

_Ride 'em in Rawhiiiide!_

_Yah!_

Maria backed away from her mic and played the solo back at her station next to Elwood. He was dancing from side to side to the rhythm of the song as he smiled at her, thankful that she saved him from humiliation & thankful that he found a reliable musician who can play as good as he hoped. Meanwhile, Jake turned to his side and noticed a whip hanging from atop of the chicken wire. He briefly left his station to grab the whip and finished the song with Elwood.

_Move 'em on_

_Hit 'em up!_

_Hit'em up_

_Move 'em on!_

_Move 'em on_

_Hit 'em up!_

_Rawhide!_

_Cut em out_

_Ride em in_

_Ride em in,_

_Cut em out_

_Cut em out_

_Ride 'em in Rawhiiiiiide!_

“YAH!!” Jake cried out as he cracked the whip away from everyone, making Maria jump.

_Rawhiiiiiiiiiiide…_

“YAHHH!”

**Crack**

RAWHIDE!

After the final note, everyone in the bar cheered & threw bottles at the chicken wire in celebration.

"I always liked performing in chaotic places." Maria commented to herself with a smile, glad that she made it through her first song as a member of the band.

“The theme from the TV show, Rawhide…” Elwood concluded right before a beer bottle hit the chicken wire and its contents spilled over Elwood’s face

“….Thank you”

Maria gave a small chuckle as Elwood went backstage to clean his face and shades.

_Still won’t take those off in front of people, huh?_

She then noticed Jake writing down something on some paper he found.

"What's that?" she asked him curiously.

"My master plan" he replied as he slammed the paper down, proudly on top of a speaker.

"Is this our new set list?"

"Yup, so I hope you guys know these songs." Jake replied as he passed down the list to the band. Once Maria got a hold of it, she began reading the list

_Stand By Your Man- Tammy Wynette_

_Walking after Midnight- Patsy Cline_

_Get Rhythm –Johnny Cash_

_Old Besty- Fess Parker_

_Blue Shadows on the Trail_

_El Paso- Marty Robins_

_The Ballad of Daniel Boone_

_Ol’ Susana._

_Looking for love in all the wrong places- Johnny Lee_

_Cocaine Blues- Johnny Cash_

“There's a lot of Johnny cash here” Maria commented “And…are some of these songs from that Disney Davy Crocket show?!!”

Jake shrugged “It’s all i can think of. I don’t know any Hank Williams or Loretta Lynn songs.”

Elwood came back form backstage and peeked at the list over Maria’s shoulder

“Some of these we can do, like Ol’ Susana, Blue Shadows…”

“‘Looking for love in all the wrong places’” Maria read from the list.

She gave a sarcastic huff of laughter “Aint that the truth…”

“Guys” Murph interrupted while looking at the audience “We need to start on the next song, quick”

The band turned back to their audience & got ready for their next song…

“Now we’d like to do a favorite of the horn section. We hope it's one of yours" Jake said into the mic.

Matt played the opening riff to the Tammy Wynette classic before Jake and Elwood began the song:

_Sometimes it's hard to be a woman  
Giving all your love to just one man_

_And if you love him_  
Oh, be proud of him  
Cause after all he's just a man

Maria looked out into the audience and noticed that all of the patrons calmed down with the bottle throwing and were snuggling and cuddling with their significant others. She gave a snicker and continued playing the song as the brothers also continued the song.

_Stand by your man_  
Give him two arms to cling to  
And something warm to come to  
when nights are cold and lonely

_Stand by your man_  
And show the world you love him  
Keep giving all the love you can  
Stand by your man…

_Stand by your man_  
And show the world you love him  
Keep giving all the love you can

To add a little originality, Elwood sang an extra lyric much to Maria's enjoyment

_Baby!_

_Stand by your man_

The crowd cheered louder, much to the bands relief, and threw more bottles at the chicken wire. Jake, Elwood, and Maria each grabbed a bottle of Budweiser.

“A toast to a successful gig…so far” Jake declared

The three of them clinked their bottles and drank.


	7. Encores

As time went on, the band continued to perform as many country songs as they could muster within the time they had onstage and with their own personal knowledge of the songs. The Bunker was set to close at 2AM, so they tried to fill in the time as much as they could with renditions of the classics Jake had written down on the piece of paper as the set list. They even tried interacting with the audience, but soon stopped once one gentleman that had too much to drink wanted to pick a fight with Jake since his wife was hitting on him.

“That was a bad idea” Maria commented

“No shit!” Jake exclaimed “I never knew my savior would be chicken wire.”

The rest of the night went smoothly as the bunker overtime, began losing its patrons.

 _The less rednecks we have to entertain, the better._ Jake thought to himself

“Alright so, what’s the next number?” Duck called out.

“Walking after Midnight and then we will end with Get Rhythm” Jake dictated. He then turned to Maria

“You sing this next one." Jake told her

"What?!” She exclaimed “Why me? You guys are leading vocals, not me!"

“I’m tired of singing this shit.“ Jake complained right back to her "The next song is a chick song and you're a chick, so sing it! C’mon, Elwood let’s go take a breather”

She rolled her eyes & fixed her microphone _I'm so glad I prefer his brother…_

Elwood followed behind Jake to the wings of the stage to have some more beer. When everyone in the audience had calmed down, Maria began playing the Hawaiian-like riff of "Walkin' after Midnight" and swayed side to side to the rhythm of the music.

_I go out walkin' after midnight; out in the moonlight  
just like we used to do. I'm always walkin' after midnight searchin' for you._

_I walk for miles, along the highway, well that's just my way, of sayin I love you.  
I'm always walkin' after midnight searchin' for you._

Elwood caught a peek of her performance from the wings as he grabbed himself a beer.

_I stop to see a weepin' willow cryin' on his pillow, maybe he's cryin' for me, and as the skies turn gloomy, night winds whisper to me, I'm lonesome as I can be_

_I go out walkin' after midnight, out in the moonlight, just hopin' you may be somewhere a walkin' after midnight searchin' for me_

_Country music never sounded so good_ Elwood thought as he watched her dreamily from backstage.

Jake glanced at his brother, at Maria, and back at his brother again with a smug grin on his face.

_That smile says it all_

"Look, if you like her so much, why don't you ask her out?" Jake asked with a shrug. "After the gig, I'll leave with the guys & you can ask her in privacy."

Elwood liked the idea, but at the same time, he was nervous about it.

_Will she say yes?!!_

He just shrugged at him. "Thanks"

_I stop to see a weepin' willow cryin' on his pillow, maybe he's cryin' for me, and as the skies turn gloomy, night winds whisper to me, I'm lonesome as I can be_

_I go out walkin' after midnight, out in the moonlight, just hopin' you may be somewhere a walkin' after midnight searchin' for me_

The song ended & she bowed down, showing courtesy for her audience. She turned her head towards the brothers in the wings & motioned for them to come back onstage. Elwood was about to make his way onstage, when Jake stopped him.

“I’ll stay back here.”

“What?!” Elwood exclaimed “Why?!”

“You have a better voice for a Johnny Cash song!” Jake replied “Plus, you’ll be closer to …you know who”

Jake nodded his head towards Maria, who was getting an acoustic guitar from the other side of the wings.

“Fine, I’ll do it.” Elwood murmured.

Elwood made his way onstage near Maria. She began the riff & this time Elwood began singing the infamous Johnny Cash song.

 _Hey, get rhythm when you get the blues_  
C'mon, get rhythm when you get the blues  
Yes a jumpy rhythm makes you feel so fine  
It'll shake all the trouble from your worried mind  
Get rhythm when you get the blues…

 _Little shoeshine boy never gets low down_  
But he's got the dirtiest job in town  
Bendin' low at the peoples' feet  
On the windy corner of the dirty street  
Well, I asked him while he shined my shoes  
How'd he keep from gettin' the blues  
He grinned as he raised his little head  
Popped a shoeshine rag and then he said

 _Hey, get rhythm when you get the blues_  
C'mon, get rhythm when you get the blues  
Yes a jumpy rhythm makes you feel so fine  
It'll shake all the trouble from your worried mind  
Get rhythm when you get the blues

 _He has a good country voice. Better than his brother for sure._ Maria thought as she continuously played the acoustic riff & Matt played the solo. The crowd seemed to go crazy with Elwood's voice as his confidence skyrocketed to the roof.

 _Well, I sat down to listen to the shoeshine boy_  
And I thought I was gonna jump for joy  
Slapped on the shoe polish left and right  
He took a shoeshine rag and he held it tight  
He stopped once to wipe the sweat away  
I said you're a mighty little boy to be-a workin' that way

 __  
He said I like it with a big wide grin  
Kept on a poppin' and he said again

 _Hey, get rhythm when you get the blues_  
C'mon, get rhythm when you get the blues  
Yes a jumpy rhythm makes you feel so fine  
It'll shake all the trouble from your worried mind  
Get rhythm when you get the blues

The crowd was cheering yet again, but as Jake anticipated, many of them began leaving. Maria looked at the time.

2AM

As the crowd began leaving & as the place was getting cleaned up, some of the band members started packing their things, but Jake stopped them "What about an encore?"

"Screw that, we're leaving" replied Mr. Fabulous rudely "Next time you get us a gig, don't make us get involved with fucking country music again."

The members except for Maria began leaving and the brothers were left onstage alone with their guitarist, feeling a bit angry & embarrassed. To prevent making the guys look stupid, Maria played a bit of the Rawhide riff & told them “Let's make the last chorus line of Rawhide the encore song. You only need each other & me to play it anyway so let's do it."

Elwood shrugged in agreement "Sure.”

"Well folks, time to call it a night." Jake told the remaining audience through the mic as the solo was being played "Do what you feel and get both feet on the wheel. You don't have to go home but you can't stay here so until next time…"

 _Move 'em on head' em up_  
Head 'em up move' em on  
Move 'em on head' em up  
Rawhide  
Count 'em out ride 'em in  
Ride 'em in count 'em out  
Count 'em out

_Ride 'em in Rawhide_

RAWHIDE!

After the encore & after the band got its share of the door money, the brothers & Maria arrived outside with their microphones, ready to pack up the stuff until they realize the rest of the band already left in Murph’s car. Elwood realized that Jake couldn't leave with the band so he can ask Maria out alone…

"Well," Elwood said a little fed up as he put the mics in the trunk "I can take you guys back to the hotel now if you want."

"Eh, alright. Man this sucks, I'm not even tired." Maria replied as she packed the guitars & shut the trunk door.

"Me neither" Elwood responded.

"I'm tired" said Jake as nudged his brother's side a bit, jerked his head towards Maria and gave him a _'Now's your chance'_ look. Elwood adjusted his tie uncomfortably  & took a deep breath. "So uh Maria…can I have a word with you?”

Maria gave Elwood with a warm smile “Yeah, ok.”

Jake got into the passenger's seat of the Bluesmobile as Elwood and Maria sat on the trunk.

She batted her dark brown eyes at him and scooted closer to him, making him even more nervous.

“So what did you want to talk to me about?”

He gulped nervously

“Since we're both not tired, do you…uh…want to get a cup of coffee with me or something? If you say no, I would completely understand. I know it’s late and…”

The guitarist nodded her head happily as her heart beat faster ”Yes I do.”

Elwood smiled in relief and turned to Jake in the car.

“Ill go drop him off first.”

“Okay.”

Elwood felt triumphant as he sat in the driver's seat, but by the time he dropped off Jake at the hotel, he began to feel not only triumphant but determined.

Determined to try to win her heart as she had won his.


	8. Late Night Coffee Chats

A little while later, after Jake was dropped off, Elwood & Maria arrived at a nearby Howard Johnson’s. They found that they were the only customers for the night and the waitress seemed disappointed to see them.

“Sit anywhere you like” she told them, nonchalantly

They looked around and ended up sitting down at a nearby booth. The tired-looking waitress took out her notepad.

“How may I help you?”

“Decaf coffee please.” Elwood ordered.

The waitress took down the order and turned to Elwood.

“Pardon me sir, by why are you wearing your sunglasses at night?”

Maria turned to Elwood, hoping she would get an answer to something she had been curious about since they had met. Elwood began to sound nervous

“Um..it’s a medical condition”

The waitress lifted her eyebrows and rolled her eyes like if he was crazy and went to get the decaf coffee. Maria seemed livid.

“What the hells her problem?” she asked angrily

She stood up from the booth and Elwood held out his hand to stop her.

“It’s nothing.” Elwood told her calmly

“Are you sure?” she asked him “Because I can go to her manager and complain..”

“No, its not worth it”

She took a deep breath “Alright.”

Maria turned to Elwood and sat back down. The two musicians remained awkwardly silent as they waited for their decaf. Elwood couldn’t make eye contact as he just kept looking at his twiddling thumbs and Maria was looking out the window.

_Say something, Maria! Break the ice!_

“So…” she began.

Elwood looked up at her.

“Yeah?”

"So did I do well tonight? On guitar?”she asked him nervously

Elwood felt a bit taken back from her question.

_The woman who can play Hendrix is nervously asking if she did well tonight?_

“Um…yeah.” He replied with honesty and a small smile “You did great! I’m surprised you managed to keep it all together, especially after how disastrous the gig was at first.”

Maria gave a chuckle “Yeah it was. We all kept it together. I just hope I didn't embarrass you when I filled in for you on Rawhide"

"No it's alright. I'm actually quite grateful you did that, or else the gig would've gone down & been a disaster." He replied kindly. "So, thank you for that.”

"No problem" she replied humbly with a small shrug "It's the least I could do."

The waitress came back to the table with the decaf coffee and poured their mugs.

“Thank you, ma’am.” Elwood told her kindly.

The waitress just walked away. Maria rolled her eyes and flipped the waitress off, much to Elwood’s amusement.

“So how did it feel being in a blues band for the first time?” he asked her "You know, since you're used to Rock N Roll and everything."

"I felt like I was quick to adjust to playing Blues music, even though we actually performed Country tonight." She added with a chuckle. "But when I decided to join you guys, I wasn't angry or disappointed for switching to Blues music, because Rock N' Roll was influenced by the blues, so I would be a hypocrite if I said 'oh I hate Blues music' when in reality, Blues music made the music I love. I know Blues music doesn't have elaborate guitar solos like how Chuck Berry has, but the Blues is all about letting out your deepest emotions, so the guitar solos aren't really needed, which I also don't mind. So being in a Blues band didn't feel much different than playing in a rock band."

Elwood raised his eyebrows, a bit surprised by her detailed answer. "Well at least you aren't a hypocrite like many people today. You embrace your influences'…well, influences"

"Yeah you're right." She replied "A true musician embraces their influences, but also makes their music their own. For example, I hate it when people enjoy bands like The Who & the Rolling Stones, but talk shit about James Brown when in reality people like him inspired The Stones or The Who to become a band. Those two bands don't go around denying their influences, so a person has to respect their bands' influences instead of putting them down."

"I don't know why other people don't understand that.” Elwood told her, disappointed by the reality of her words. "The Blues is a dying music genre."

"Not exactly." She replied sympathetically "You & Jake are keeping it alive."

He smiled his half smile. “Well, don't forget, you're helping us too."

She gave a shrug and glanced down at her twiddling thumbs

"I just play lead guitar. You and Jake empower the people with your voices, which I happen to like by the way. I was pretty surprised when I first heard you sing.”

"Are you just saying that?" he asked shyly

"No" Maria replied honestly "I really do like your voice. I've always liked deep voices, and I really liked your singing for both 'Rawhide' & 'Get Rhythm' & your little 'improvisation' in 'Stand by Your Man.'

"You mean when I sang the 'baby' part?" he asked

"Yeah; it was cute."

Elwood turned a light shade of pink.

"I uh…liked the way you sang that Patsy Cline song. It was really pretty."

"Aw, thank you." She replied as she smiled.

_I really like this guy. He's actually has brains, a beautiful voice & a kind personality to go along with his musical talent…_

Elwood opened his mouth to say something, but the rude waitress interrupted him by shoving the coffee bill right in front of him.

"We're closing soon so pay up."

Elwood gave her a scowl & lazily dropped the amount of money on the little tray the bill was on.

"C'mon let's go." Maria told Elwood while giving the waitress another look “She doesn't need our tip."

 

* * *

 

Elwood and Maria arrived at the hotel and he wanted to walk her to her room out of courtesy.

“I’m very sorry that waitress had to ruin the end of our date." Elwood commented as he pressed the elevator button up.

She blushed a bit at his words "Wow…you said date."

_Oh shit she's right_

His eyes widened behind his shades.

"Uh…" he stammered, obviously embarrassed "I'm sorry if you…um...didn't think it was…"

"No, no!” she told him kindly "I meant that…I…liked the fact that you called it a date. I know it was just coffee, but it's the little things in life that count."

"Yeah.” replied Elwood with a relieved smile "You're right. I think we should do this again."

"Yeah, I had a good time with you. You're very sweet.”

The elevator door opened and they stepped inside. As they waited to be taken to their floor, both of their minds were running rampantly.

_So does this mean Elwood and I are officially dating?…_

_What do I do next for our next date? I don’t wanna taker her to the same place again…_

They arrived on their floor and approached her door

"Well, thank you for a good time tonight.”

"No problem" he said with a tip of his hat ”Goodnight.”

“’Goodnight.”

Elwood began walking away, but as Maria began unlocking her door, she began feeling like she wanted to do & say something to him. To let him know that she did like him & appreciate what he & Jake had done for her.

"Elwood?"

He turned around & walked towards her "Yes?"

"I know this must be surprising for you to hear me say, especially because of how brash I can be" she began shyly “I want to say from the bottom of my heart, thank you for letting me in the band. I know that I can't fully replace your previous lead guitarist, but it means a lot to me that you guys still invited me to be in the band. You made me so happy that I can play in a decent band without feeling criticized."

"It's no problem at all." Elwood replied humbly "You're a kind & very talented person so you deserve the proper respect Jake & I are more than willing to give you."

_Go ahead Maria, do it! Show him you're thankful!_

She was determined to show him her honest feelings towards him. Nothing that's too much to handle, but enough to let him know the truth. She leaned towards him, and Elwood felt his face burn like fire as he felt Maria’s pillowy lips on his cheek. The kiss only lasted for a small second, but they stood in front of each other in silence for what felt like forever.

"Well um…Goodnight.” Maria mumbled under her breath “See you tomorrow."

"'Night" was all he could manage to say

She smiled dreamily at him, looked down onto the floor, & went inside her room. Once she shut the door, she leaned her back against the door and slid down onto the floor, perplexed by her own actions.

_Wow, I can't believe I just did that! Ha!_

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Elwood was walking to his room feeling a little dumbfounded by what he had experienced

_Wow, she likes me! She really likes me!_

He opened the door to his room where he found Jake reading a newspaper on the edge of the bed. He glanced up at his taller brother & set the paper down. "Hey Man, how did it go?"

"Good. We just had coffee & talked." Elwood replied as he took off his hat & black suit.

Jake then noticed something peculiar.

"You're blushing."

Elwood froze, slightly embarrassed that the blush was still on his cheeks but he pretended to shrug it off.

"No I'm not.”

"You got laid didn't you?"

"No!" Elwood replied annoyed by his accusation.

_Is that all he ever thinks about?_

“Then what did she do to make you blush, Loverboy?"

"She just…bade me goodnight & kissed me on the cheek, that's all."

Jake laughed with joy & patted Elwood on the back "Finally, my own brother got a girlfriend! Don't worry man; it won't be long before you reach third base."

"But Jake,” Elwood replied "I really do like her and I'm looking for more than just going to bed.”

"Well I guess I can see that coming from you." Jake replied with a shrug “You’ve always been like this. Hell, I remember you were like this when I took you to your first visit to the whorehouse.”

Elwood grimaced at the memory. He wasn’t exactly proud of that, especially after the emotional let down the experience was for him.

“I can tell that this is new to you, so I’ll break it down” Jake instructed, as a matter of factly “When the time comes, lean in towards her, not completely kissing her yet & let her make the decision on whether she would kiss you back or not."

"Oh sweet mercy…” replied Elwood as he ran his hand through his hair nervously.

_Me kiss her? And her kissing me back? Would she even want to go that far? Does she even like me enough to do that?_

"Don't be nervous about it, man." Jake comforted as he yawned and stretched his arms "I think she'll be happy about it when that time comes. I can tell she likes ya.“

He rolled over in his bed and fell asleep.

Elwood laid back on his bed, staring at the ceiling and feeling doubtful about what Jake said.

" _I think she'll be happy about it when that time comes"_

 _Yeah right_ Elwood thought reluctantly as he turned to his side.

_She probably only kissed me out of pity. Let's face it; who would want to be with an ex-glue factory worker?_


	9. The Bees Brothers Band

The next morning, Maria awoke to the sound of a loud “THUD” against her door She jumped in her bed and sat straight up, startled by the noise before groaning in annoyance. She rolled her eyes and groggily got up from the bed to open the door. Once she did so, she saw that a huge newspaper pile was waiting for her.

_Did they have to throw it against the door?_

Maria gathered all the messy papers into one pile and made her way back inside her room. She slammed the pile on her coffee table, right next to her grinder and pile of ground marijuana and blunt papers.

_Wake n bake time…_

She rolled herself a cone shaped blunt, sprinkled the ground marijuana into it, and lit it up with her lighter. She kept the joint between her lips as she sorted through the newspapers and one by one tossed aside the multiple ads. Maria took a deep inhale of the blunt, held it in for a few seconds, and blew the smoke out, feeling the numbness slowly travel throughout her body.

_I really hope I can find a gig for us to perform at, even if we can barely make enough to eat._

Still with the joint in her mouth, Maria turned the page of the paper to the Classified section and skimmed through the job listings.

_Blah blah…Plumber needed…store manager needed…part time employee needed…Music band needed._

Maria paused her search and read the job description.

_Fuck…this sounds horrible…but we need that money for a bite to eat. I don’t want to have the band starve themselves and I said to Jake and Elwood I would help them out!_

Maria let out an impatient sigh and took another hit from her joint. After she exhaled the smoke, the numbness spread throughout her body even stronger.

_I gotta show Jake and Elwood this._

She circled the ad with the closest pen she could find and got up to change her outfit, before heading out the door.

* * *

"Jake, we seriously need another gig soon!” Elwood complained as he chewed on his dry toast. “How long is it gonna be before we get a real gig instead of being in a Country bar?"

"Calm down, man. I got everything under control, we have an appointment with Maury Sline on Friday. “ Jake replied calmly from the bathroom.

He looked at himself in the mirror and continued to shave and maintain his sideburns.

"But we need to get a gig & the 5 grand now!"

_Knock knock knock_

"Guys! Guys!"

Instantly recognizing the voice, Elwood jolted to the door, adjusted his hat and tie, and opened it. There stood the lovely guitarist herself, with the newspaper in her hand. Elwood greeted her a small grin.

“Hi”

Maria batted her eyes flirtily “Hi.”

Elwood stepped to the side to let her in the room & Maria dropped the newspaper on Jakes bed.

“Good news, guys. I found us a new gig that’s gonna pay us 300 for the night." She said with a scratch of her red eyes “That should give us some grocery money.”

"And the bad news?" Jake called out from the bathroom.

Maria didn’t reply as she lowered her head to the ground in shame. Jake came out of the bathroom, wiping his face from the aftershave, and picked up the paper to read it aloud.

' _Help Wanted: A band willing to provide family-fun entertainment.'_

"That doesn't sound that bad" replied Elwood ”I’d rather entertain families than perform in front of drunken rednecks again. Then I know I’ll be safer.”

"Read the location" she responded in monotone with her arms crossed, not liking what they have to hear.

The Brothers turned their attention back to the paper and read:

' _Garden-Land strongly promotes…'_

"Whoa whoa whoa, Garden Land?" Jake interrupted not believing what he read "The amusement park? We have to entertain kids in an amusement park? I've seen those stupid employees before; they always dress up in some sort of dumbass costume and perform the sappiest songs on earth! There's no way in hell we're going to this thing! It’s like if we got a job at Disneyland!”

"It's either this or we go hungry!” Maria argued. “I would rather humiliate myself in an amusement park, than starve! If we have a different gig already planned, then tell me & I'll shut up about Garden land."

Elwood & Jake glanced at each other and remained silent. She had a point.

Jake sighed & looked at the ad once again. "Well, at least we have something." He grumbled.

"Beggars can't be choosers" quoted Elwood as he turned to Maria.

She shrugs unenthusiastically, feeling sorta bad about her choice of a gig “I’m very sorry I couldn't find you guys anything better. The opportunity came for some money & I took advantage of it."

Jake threw down the paper onto his bed rather harshly.

"At least afterwards we can finally eat out somewhere nice.” He mumbled with a hint of annoyance.

* * *

Later that night, after the band was informed of their next gig , the band gathered all of their instruments & headed down south in their separate cars. The park was about an hour from Maria's place, so it wasn't as bad as the trip they took to Bob's Country Bunker.

"Ok, so where the hell is this place now?" asked Mr. Fabulous impatiently "Another Country bar?"

"As a matter of fact, No." replied Jake "It's at an amusement park.”

"Huh, well that’s a bit of a happy change!” Murph replied with some enthusiasm.

_At least someone here is looking on the bright side of things._

Maria thought to herself as she rolled her eyes and fidgeted in her seat with her arms crossed.

"Well, It's just a one day thing, right? At least we don't have to worry about them hitting us with glass bottles" Duck Dunn commented.

"Exactly the point I made” Elwood replied.

“Fucking hell…” Maria murmured as she took out a flask from her pocket and took a long sip from it.

_Thank you, Jim Beam…_

* * *

 

After the band found a parking space in front of the parks front gates, they began unpacking the trunks of both cars to get their equipment. Maria gathered her guitar case and swung it against her back.

_Do we even have a set list for tonight?! Do we have family friendly blues songs we can possibly perform?!_

Her mind ran with possible songs they could perform until she spotted Elwood leaning against the Bluesmobile, cleaning his harmonica with a piece of cloth. She instantly beamed and approached him.

“Hey Elwood!”

Elwood paused his cleaning at the sound of her voice and gave her a small smile.

“Hi.”

“Do you know what our set list is gonna be like?” She asked.

Elwood shook his head “No I don’t. Jake hasn’t said anything yet.”

“Well, I really hope we can have 'family friendly' material to perform” she commented

"With Jake on leading mic, I doubt it would be family friendly.” Elwood replied.

She gave out a small chuckle & Elwood smiled at her joyous sounds.

_She has a gentle laugh. Its cute._

"Hey, uh…" he began shyly, removing his hat and scathing his head ”if things… don't quite work out tonight for whatever reason or if you're bored after the gig…How about we uh…get together again and…do something? Maybe talk some more about music or have a jam session again like we did in the car.”

_Huh, another date?! I guess he does like me!_

"Sure" she replied with flirty wink "I'll be looking forward to it."

"Me too" he replied kindly with a small smile

_He’s so bashful! Oh my god, that's so cute!_

"Alright people gather around" Jake commanded as he clapped his hands in triumph. "I just got back from talking to the manager about our set list for tonight."

That caught Maria’s attention as she bolted to him.

"Ok, so what are we gonna be performing?" she asked eagerly.

"The manager said that the songs that the band usually played were related to Nature, gardens, or the outdoors."

"Oh god, please no hippie bullshit" Mr. Fabulous complained.

“Maybe we should play something like 'Build Me up Buttercup' or 'Here Comes the sun.' Those are pretty good & I know them on guitar.” Maria suggested

Matt spoke up "How about 'What a Wonderful World' from Louis Armstrong? That describes nature."

"Matt has the idea!" encouraged Maria happily, glad that someone else was contributing to the creative flow.

"I know this one song called 'I'm a King Bee' from Slim Harpo." Elwood mentioned "It's not about nature, but it has bee references such as 'I'm buzzing around your hive' and other stuff"

"Sure" replied Jake as he wrote down the songs they were listing.

“What was that Bob Marley tune? The one with ‘Sun’ in the title? Um…” Maria trailed off.

“Sun is Shining!” Willie Hall told her

“There you go!”

For the next few minutes, the band gathered around and made the setlist for their gig as each member tried to contribute. Since the performance was only going to be for an hour, the band came up with a shorter setlist

_Build me up Buttercup- The Foundations_

_Here Comes the Sun- The Beatles_

_What a Wonderful world- Louis Armstrong_

_Sun is Shining- Bob Marley_

_River Deep, Mountain High- Ike and Tina Turner_

_Up Around the Bend- Creedence Clearwater Revival_

_I’m a King Bee.- Slim Harpo_

The band made their way inside the gates of the amusement park as Maria looked around. The park looked pretty packed as many people were hustling and bustling from the different variety of rides and carnival games.

_This place sure has changed since I last went here as a kid…back then it was a dump!_

"Excuse me; are you the Blues Brothers band?"

The band all turned around & saw a redheaded young woman carrying a box, which looked pretty heavy.Looking at her sophisticated uniform, Maria could tell that she must have had a higher paying job for the park.

_Perhaps a managerial role…_

She was very pretty so Jake had no hesitation in helping her.

_Shit, if Elwood can get a chick so can I!_

"Yes we are" Jake replied to her proudly. "How may we help you…Christina?" he added as he noticed her name tag. “And please let me get that box for you!”

Jake took the box from Christina and she gave him a large smile

“Thank you very much! I’m so glad you were able to come in at the last minute!” She said, gratefully 

_She sounds like freakin Snow White…_

Maria thought to herself, hearing the kindness and softness of Christina’s voice.

“The old band I had planned had suddenly quit, so I had to look for someone else as soon as possible.”

“Well, you found us, the best band in the Midwest!” Jake replied proudly.

Jake shook the box, curious about what was inside. It was slightly heavy, but the material thats inside didn’t seem fragile.

“Say Christina, what’s in the box?” Jake asked her

“Oh, it’s your uniforms for when you perform tonight!” she exclaimed.

"Whoah, uniforms?" Elwood asked uneasily. "I don't wanna change my clothes!”

"The Beatles had uniforms!" Maria retorted, making a point.

"Good luck tonight!" Christina called out as she began to walk away.

Jake watched her go and had a big grin as he adjusted his tie.

"She wants me" Jake told the band.

“Like hell, Jake” Duck replied as he rolled his eyes.

"Let's take a look at the uniforms!" Maria suggested happily.

She got her swiss army knife from her front pocket and began cutting the box top. Once she opened it, she regretted her words immediately as her face fell.

“Oh shit…”

* * *

Later on the whole band were trying on their…rather interesting uniforms. It consisted of a fat suit with black & yellow stripes, fake stinger, wings, & antennas, & black knee high socks. It took the band a while before reality had set in, and that they had to perform dressed as bees. The whole band complained and grumbled as they got ready.

"THIS IS BULLSHIT!"

"Why do we have to wear this crap?!”

"Because they said we had to! That's why!" replied Elwood to the grumbling complaining band members.

As all the men were in one dressing room, Maria, being the only woman in the band among guys, decided to just change by herself in a bathroom stall. Maria had already put on her costume and was looking for a guitar pick.

_Damn, I must have left it in the apartment!_

She gave a annoyed sigh

_Maybe I can ask Mattif I can borrow one just for tonight._

She left the bathroom stall and made her way to the men's’ dressing room while simultaneously giving people dirty looks as they passed by her with weird looks. Meanwhile, the men were increasingly getting more annoyed and vocal with the gigs they had to endure so far.

“Who’s idea was this, anyway?!” Duck Dunn complained “I’d rather be back at that damn Holiday Inn again than do this bullshit!”

Duck suddenly turned to Jake “I bet you anything it was your idea!”

“No, it wasn’t me!” Jake said defensively “Honest!”

“Then who did?!” Murph asked “Was it you, Elwood?!”

Elwood was about to open his mouth when Jake interrupted with “No, it wasn’t his idea either. It was Maria’s!”

Elwood was caught off guard by Jake’s statement.

_Did he just throw her under the bus?!_

Concurrently, Maria approached the dressing room and was about to knock when she overheard what was being discussed among the men.

“Oh that’s just perfect” Mr. Fabulous sneered “First she’s singing at our gig at the Country Bunker, and now she booked this thing for us? I swear to god, she’s gonna be the Yoko Ono of this group. Anything she does for the group is gonna be a disaster!”

Maria couldn’t control her reflexes as she clenched her fists and began to turn red in anger.

_What a fucking asshole! Does he even know I did this so that they can have food in their stomachs?!_

Inside of the room, Jake noticed his brother looking livid at Mr. Fabulous as he tightened his jaw and pursed his lips tighter.

Elwood spoke up “She only found the ad in the newspaper! She didn’t want to do it either but I persuaded her to do it.

Outside of the door, Maria was blinked her eyes incredulously over what she heard.

_But Elwood…Mr Fabulous was right…it was my idea…_

_Please don’t take the wrap for this. You don’t deserve it._

She decided to bang on the door, a little harder than she should have thus making some of the men jump startled..

”Are you guys almost done of not, because I am!" she yelled out harshly

She huffed impatiently and quickly added, “You know what, never mind I’ll just wait for you guys outside.”

In the dressing room, Elwood heard an angry tone to her voice.

_I bet she overheard us…_

As Maria stood outside, she bit her nails with a trembling fist, trying her best to keep her temper in check.

_I wanna strangle him so bad! But dammit I need this money!And I can’t jeopardize helping the guys get the money for the orphanage!_

_And Elwood…I can’t let him see me like this…_

Maria was suddenly jolted back into reality as Jake joined her outside. Maria noticed that his hat was replaced by a set of wobbly antennas, thus showing he had wavy hair. He was also wearing yellow see-through shades that brought attention to Jake’s big brown eyes, thus completing his whole face.

_Huh…he’s not that bad looking, I guess…_

She approached him.

"You know, this is the first time I see you without your black shades or your hat!”

“Yup.” he replied with a smug look “And this will be the last.”

Elwood then emerged from the dressing room, wearing the bee costume, but still wearing his black shades. Maria felt a twinge of slight disappointment upon noticing this.

_Will I ever see him without them on?_

However, that didn’t stop her from enjoying seeing Elwood in a funny costume.

"Well Elwood" she began, chuckling a bit "You are the only bee I know that I would not squish with my shoe or swat with my fly swatter."

"I'll take that as a compliment" replied Elwood with a smirk ”And let me tell you this, you are the prettiest bee I've ever seen."

"Oh god." grumbled Jake, "Go & get married already..."

"Shut up." Maria grumbled "At least I wasn't ogling at the manager. _Oh she wants me!_ " she then added, impersonating Jake.

"Go to hell!”

"Already there, man."

The rest of the band then emerged in their bee costumes with as much enthusiasm as one can have being forced to dress like a bee. Maria hid her fists upon seeing Mr. Fabulous.

Jake sighed as he glanced at his miserable band members "Lets get this over with…"

* * *

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to Garden Lands, Happy Garden Concert Hour!”

Maria grimaced as she heard the kids & their parents cheer over Christina’s cheerfulness. The whole band was backstage with a universal feeling morose about what they reduced themselves to.

"So please give a "Bee-loved" welcome for our friends, "The Bees Brothers Band"

_Bees Brothers? What The…_

Before she would finish her thoughts, the curtains opened thus revealing the Bees Brothers band. The parents & their kids cheered & Jake looked at them, obviously embarrassed.

“1.2. 1.2.3.4”

Willie Hall & Murph began playing their instruments, and shortly afterwards, Jake began singing with the rest of the band providing back vocals.

_Why do you build me up_

_(build me up)_

_Buttercup, baby  
Just to let me down _

_(let me down)_

_and mess me around  
And then worst of all _

_(worst of all)_

_you never call, baby  
When you say you will _

_(say you will)_

_but I love you still  
I need you _

_(I need you)_

_more than anyone, darlin'_  
You know that I have from the start  
So build me up

_(build me up)_

_Buttercup, don't break my heart!_

_"I'll be over at ten", you told me time and again  
But you're late, I wait around and then _

_(bah-dah-dah)_  
I run to the door, I can't take any more  
It's not you, you let me down again

_(Hey, hey, hey!)_

_Baby, baby, try to find  
(Hey, hey, hey!) _

_A little time, and I'll make you happy  
(Hey, hey, hey!) _

_I'll be home_  
I'll be beside the phone waiting for you  
Ooo-oo-ooo, ooo-oo-ooo

 

_Why do you build me up_

_(build me up)_

_Buttercup, baby  
Just to let me down _

_(let me down)_

_and mess me around  
And then worst of all _

_(worst of all) you never call, baby  
When you say you will _

_(say you will) but I love you still  
I need you _

_(I need you)_

_more than anyone, darlin'_  
You know that I have from the start  
So build me up

_(build me up)_

_Buttercup, don't break my heart_

_You were my toy but I could be the boy you adore  
If you'd just let me know _

_(bah-dah-dah)_  
Although you're untrue, I'm attracted to you all the more  
Why do I need you so

_(Hey, hey, hey!)_

_Baby, baby, try to find  
(Hey, hey, hey!) _

_A little time and I'll make you happy  
(Hey, hey, hey!) _

_I'll be home_  
I'll be beside the phone waiting for you  
Ooo-oo-ooo, ooo-oo-ooo

 

 _Why do you build me up (build me up) Buttercup, baby_  
Just to let me down (let me down) and mess me around  
And then worst of all (worst of all) you never call, baby  
When you say you will (say you will) but I love you still  
I need you (I need you) more than anyone, darlin'  
You know that I have from the start  
So build me up (build me up) Buttercup, don't break my heart

 _I-I-I need you-oo-oo more than anyone, baby_  
You know that I have from the start  
So build me up (build me up) Buttercup, don't break my heart

 

Once the song finished, the Band of bees bowed, feeling relieved that they got one song out of the way as the audience cheered.

"Whats next?" asked Tom Malone

"Here comes The Sun" replied Elwood.

He then turned to Maria with a small smile.

"Do you want to do this one, since this is up your alley?”

Maria glanced over at Mr. Fabulous, who was looking more annoyed. Remembering what she heard in the dressing room, she sighed and looked at Elwood.

“I don’t think I should.” she murmured sadly.

Elwood’s frowned at her “Why not? You love The Beatles…”

“I just…” she began

She paused until she could collect her thoughts

“I just think Jake should do this one.”

Elwood saw sadness in her eyes, but he figured now was not the good time to ask her what was wrong. Instead, he nodded his head and saw Maria grab acoustic guitar from the wings of the stage.

_I need to talk to her after the show…_

She grabbed the acoustic guitar & sat down on a stool as she began playing the beautiful George Harrison-written melody.

_Here comes the sun, doo n' doo doo here comes the sun,  
and I say it's all right_

_Jake’s really not bad at this song_

Maria thought to herself as she kept focused on the complicated melody.

_I wanna hear Elwood cover a Beatles song sometime…_

_Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter_  
Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here  
Here comes the sun, doo n' doo doo here comes the sun,  
and I say it's all right

 _Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces_  
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here  
Here comes the sun, doo n' doo doo here comes the sun,  
and I say it's all right

He motioned to the guys to join as backing vocals & they do, noticing the crowd was also singing along.

_Sun, sun, sun, here it comes  
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes..._

_Sun, sun, sun, here it comes  
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes..._

Jake and Elwood slowly felt the embarrassment of what they were doing slip away as they noticed the positive reaction from the audience. The songs they were covering weren’t bad at all, and they were glad that the audience appreciated their overall performance.

 _Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting_  
Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear  
Here comes the sun, doo n' doo doo here comes the sun,  
and I say it's all right  
It's all right

At the final strum of the melody, the audience cheered as everyone bowed.

“Alright…” Jake said into the mic. “For this one, I think I’ll have my brother Elwood take over.”

He turned to the younger brother.

“Wanna do this next one?”

“Yup” was all Elwood replied with, making Maria smile.

“Alright. Take it away, Elwood!”

Jake made his way offstage as Murph began on his piano and Elwood started with the Louis Armstrong classic.

 _I see trees of green, red roses too_  
I see them bloom for me and you  
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

 _His voice is perfect for this song_ Maria thought dreamily as she played along.

 _I see skies of blue and clouds of white_  
the bright blessed day, the dark sacred night  
And I think to myself what a wonderful world.

 _The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky_  
Are also on the faces of people going by  
I see friends shaking hands saying how do you do  
They're really saying I love you.

 _I hear babies crying, I watch them grow_  
They'll learn much more than I'll never know  
And I think to myself what a wonderful world  
Yes I think to myself what a wonderful world.

* * *

Before the band knew it, time flew by as they were already on the last song on the setlist. The band began to play the intro to one of Slim Harpo’s classic songs as Jake tried to get people pumped up.

“Yeah! All right, all right, now how many people out there, how many men out there ever had an old lady leave 'em? Lemme hear you say "Yeah!" Yeah! All right, everybody, that's everybody, that's everybody..”

Jake bobbed his head to the rhythm of the music

“All right. Well, lemme give you some free advice, all right? You know, my old lady comes up to me and she says "You been messin' around." My old la-deees come up to me and they say "You been messin' around with some other women." And I say "Honey, honey, you just take me as I am or you just let me bee.” That's right!”

He segwayed into the song.

 _Well I'm a king bee; Buzzing around your hive_  
Well I'm a king bee baby; Buzzing around your hive  
Yeah I can make honey baby Let me come inside  
Well I'm a king bee; Want you to be my queen  
Well I'm a king bee, baby ;Want you to be my queen  
Together we can make honey The world has never seen  
Well, buzz a while...

_A buzz buzz_

_A buzz buzz_

_A buzz buzz  
Sting you bad..._

He began getting acrobatic as he did somersaults onstage & Maria tried hard not to burst out laughing.

_I gotta admit, he’s very acrobatic. Especially for someone of his stature…_

_Well I'm a king bee; Can buzz all night long_  
Well I'm a king bee, baby; Can buzz all night long  
Yeah I can buzz better baby  
When your man is goooooone

After the final note, The whole band took a bow before the curtains closed as the audience burst into a strong applause. The band left the stage, feeling a lot better than they were when they first arrived. As the band was packing everything, Christina came towards them with a huge grin on her face and a decent sized envelope.

"Hey guys, you were awesome tonight! The audience loved you so much and I think you were the best we’ve ever had!”

Jake smiled smugly as he raised his eyebrow

“Well, I mean…we **are** pretty good…”

Christina handed Jake the envelope “Here's your pay!"

Jake took it & took out the 500 bucks “Thanks" he replied cockily "Say uh if you're not busy…"

"Hey babe, let's get on the tilt a whirl!”

Jake's grin disappeared once he saw a taller man approach her & kissed her cheek. He looked down on her hands and saw a sparkle on the base of one of her fingers.

 _Really?!_ Jake thought with strain of disappointment _She’s engaged?!_

"Well guys, you can spend the rest of the night here with unlimited rides if you want.” Christina told the band.

The guys nodded their heads and gave a few murmurs of acknowledgement as they quickly went to their dressing room to change into normal clothes.

“I hope to keep in touch with you guys!”

Christina called out as she began to leave with her fiance. Once she was gone, Jake looked disappointed. Maria noticed his glumness and gave him a pat on the back as she made her way to the bathroom stall.

"Sorry, man"

* * *

 

After she removed her costume and left the bathroom stall in her normal clothes, Maria stormed out of the amusement park.

_Now since this bullshit is over, I need to get the fuck away from this place and from the band…_

She sat on a bench that was close to the parking lot and found the joint that she was smoking that morning in her pocket. She got out the bent cone-shaped joint from earlierthat day and began digging into her purse and pockets for a lighter.

“Need a light?”

Maria looked upwards towards the voice and found Elwood approaching her.

_Well…maybe I can use the company…_

She smiled lightly and scooted across the bench, making room for him to sit down. He sat down next to her and flicked his lighter to light her joint

“Thank you” she told him

“Mind if I join you?” He asked her as he held up his pack of cigarettes

“Be my guest”

Elwood began lighting his cigarette as Maria inhaled from her joint, held the smoke in her lungs, and exhaled. She turned her head away so she wouldn’t blow the smoke in Elwood’s face, as Elwood did the same with his cigarette smoke. The two musicians sat in silence for a small period of time as they looked out into the bright flashing lights the amusement park provided. Maria’s head was spinning.

_Is it because of Elwood, or the pot?_

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Elwood’s voice

“You did great tonight, by the way.”

Maria turned her head to him and was greeted with a small smile from him.

“But that’s not very surprising, is it?”

She beamed at him, in thanks.

“How come you didn’t want to perform The Beatles tonight?” He asked her curiously.

Maria’s smile faded and she looked ahead in front of her, hesitant on answering him. She inhaled the joint and exhaled again.

“…I heard what Mr. Fabulous said about me, comparing me to Yoko Ono.” she said sadly.

Elwood felt a twinge of guilt over her statement. He glanced down at his hands and his lit cigarette.

“I’m…very sorry you heard that.” Elwood replied. “If it makes you feel any better, I wasn’t too happy with what he said either.”

“I know.”

Maria turned to face him

“I heard you defend me and I just wanna say thank you for doing that” She continued with a small smile

He returned the smile, making Maria’s heart beat a tad bit faster. She glanced down at her hands.

“I just got so angry at him. I mean, who the fuck is he to judge me when I’m trying to do good for the band?!”

Elwood nodded his head, agreeing with her. “At least Jake and I know that you are. I think that’s all that matters.”

Maria gave out a tired sigh. “You’re right. I shouldn’t worry about such pettiness. I should just focus on our common goal.”

“Exactly”

“Inhale the good shit, exhale the bullshit…”

Maria continued to smoke and Elwood glanced at the joint. Maria noticed him paying attention to it and offered it to him.

“Wanna hit? It’s really soothing.”

Elwood gave a nonchalant shrug and took it. He inhaled, held in the smoke, and instantly felt the numbing sensation spread throughout his body as he exhaled. He looked at the joint curiously.

“This is strong.”

“I get my shit from a great dealer.” Maria commented with a hint of laughter. “He was a fan of my old band so he gives me the best of the best…also I think he may have a crush on me, but I don’t know!”

She found herself giggling even more.

“Too bad for him! I’m already interested in someone else!”

Elwood didn’t hear a word she just said. He was too busy staring at the hot dog vendor inside of the amusement park.

_I could go for one right about now…_

Maria noticed Elwood’s attention to the vendor and began laughing as if it was the funniest thing she had ever seen. Meanwhile, Jake began to approach the nearby parking lot and noticed the overly-joyous Maria and the stringent Elwood. He stood there momentarily, confused as hell at what he was seeing. He noticed the smoking joint in Maria’s hand and quickly understood what was going on. He shook it off, unfazed by the cannabis and approached Elwood.

“Hey man, we are leaving. Can you walk?”

Elwood nodded his head slowly and began following Jake. Maria, still giggling to her hearts content, followed behind.

_Damn, I gotta know where she got that shit…_

 

* * *

A few hours after the gig was over, Elwood’s cravings went down and Maria was feeling drained and sluggish. He escorted her back to her room, to make sure she was safe and sound.

“That was a rather…interesting experience.” Elwood added with a small laugh.

Maria nodded her head. “Yeah…”

The duo arrived at Maria’s door. She began fiddling with her keys.

“Oh, I meant to tell you…” Elwood interjected “Tomorrow we're having a band meeting at 9:30 at me and Jake’s so…"

"Oh" Maria responded, sounding a bit uneasy "um… I'm sorry Elwood, but I have…something I need to do tomorrow that's very important to me & personal."

By the look she had in her eyes, he could tell that she wasn't looking forward to her task tomorrow.

_I don’t think I should ask what it is. It’s none of my business._

"Ok" he responded kindly "I'll let the other guys know. You can make it to the next one.”

She nodded and smiled at him. Elwood turned a bright red as he felt Maria kiss his cheek yet again.

"Goodnight Elwood.”

"Night"

She opened her door and passed out on her bed, as Elwood walked away back to his and Jake’s room, feeling the dark lipstick stain Maria left on his cheek.


	10. Spiritual Comfort

The next morning, in an almost zombie-like manner, Maria rose from her bed, feeling numb.

_Here I go again…_

Her numbness continued to consume her as she took a shower, and ended up still feeling zombie-like as she stepped out. She took out her darkest clothes for her to wear and slowly put them on before putting on her signature dark red lipstick. After she left the hotel, she made her way to a florist to pick up the same type of bouquet as she ordered last year

_4 tulips_

_3 daisies_

_And 5 roses_

* * *

At 9:30, the members of the Blues brothers' band entered the hotel and gathered around the downstairs lobby on some of the beatdown and torn sofas. Jake and Elwood made their way down from their room and approached the group of men.

"Hey, where's our new chick?" Willie Hall asked, as he looked behind the brothers for Maria.

"Oh uh…" Elwood began "She told me to tell you guys that she can't make it because she has personal errands to run."

_I hope that’s a good enough excuse…_

"Speaking of which, I have a bone to pick with her." Mr. Fabulous then spoke up. "Why the hell has she been hanging with you guys? Do we offend her of something?"

 _Well, you did compare her to Yoko Ono…_ Elwood replied in his head.

"I doubt it man. Maybe she's just shy around us since we're the original members & she's new." Lou suggested

"And why is she automatically a singer now?" Mr. Fabulous asked

"Well, the first time she sang, she was just helping Elwood with his screw-up when he sang Rawhide…" Jake began but was interrupted by the angry trumpet player.

"Yeah, but she sang that Patsy Cline song & then yesterday Elwood offered for her to sing that Beatles song; Does she think she runs this band now just because she has ovaries?"

Elwood stepped in defensively “She is not running the band; she's just helping us out.”

“Helping us out with what?!” Mr. Fabulous exclaimed annoyingly “We’ve been a band for many years, I don’t think we really need any help!”

“What about having a lead guitarist?” Elwood interjected, hiding his annoyance with Mr Fabulous “I think she’s great for the job.”

Jake nodded his head in agreement. "Steve Cropper will always have a special place in this band, but Elwood and I chose her because she is good at what she does and was available to join. It’s not like she’s dictating to you guys what to do, right?”

The band all glanced at each other.

"Well…no she isn’t.“ replied Murph with a shrug “I’ve never really had a problem with her."

The rest of the band glanced at each other and murmured amongst each other, agreeing with Murph.

"Yeah Mr. Fabulous, I don't know why you don't like her" Matt said towards the trumpet player “I just think she needs a chance to open up to us.”

Mr. Fabulous crossed his arms and remained silent for the remainder of the meeting.

* * *

After the meeting, Elwood was cruising alone around town in the Bluesmobile. With a loaf of freshly baked white bread in the backseat in a brown paper bag, he slowly drove around the neighborhood, seeking any hiring venues.

_I hope the Double-Up Lounge or Morgan Park Theater has some openings…_

He slowly passed by the cemetery, and as he did so, he heard an oh so familiar voice cry out, almost like a plea.

"But I need to deliver these flowers!"

He turned his head towards the direction of the voice & immediately halted the car once he saw who it was. Outside the lowered car window, he identified Maria, covered from head to toe with dark clothes with a bouquet of flowers in her hands. She looked like she was pleading with the man that was in front of her, who looked annoyed with her. Maria turned her head, sensing someone was nearby & caught a glimpse of the taller Blues Brother. Her heart raced and her eyes lit up.

"Elwood!"

As much as he adored seeing the happiness of his presence in her eyes, he sensed something was wrong. He parked the Bluesmobile at a nearby parking meter as his mind ran with a plan to help her.

_Can I pretend to be a police officer? I have the car, after all…_

Elwood got out of the car and began approaching Maria.

"Excuse me, sir" he began as he fished his pockets for something to present as identification

"I am Officer Edward Johnson" he declared as he briefly showed an "ID" to the man in front of Maria, when in reality it was a crushed box of cigarettes. "And I see my co-worker Miss Valens here, is having some sort of quarrel with you."

“Yeah, the cemetery is closed for the day due to renovations.” the disgruntled older man told him as he glanced at Maria with an ugly look. "She can't be here."

“Are you the main groundskeeper?” Elwood asked

“Yes. What’s it to, ya?”

"My co-worker here is the most respected employee in our company and she only asks for this one favor." Elwood told him.

“Please, it’s only one favor! My parents died 20 years ago today!” Maria interjected “so I need to see them…so please… let me go. I’ll only take a few minutes.”

_Wow…and I thought my lie at the factory was a bit to much…_

Elwood thought she was playing along with his lie, but as he glanced at her attire & bouquet, he noticed she had a certain sadness in her eyes.

_Oh…she's not lying after all…_

Upon hearing Maria’s sadness, the groundskeeper’s eyes softened & seemed he had a change of heart. He fiddled through his keys and unlocked the cemetery gates.

“Fine. I’ll give you a few minutes.“ he told her kindly.

Maria smiled a bit in thanks at the owner's change of heart.

"Thank you."

She began to walk through the gates, but paused as a change overcame her. She normally faced this alone, but this time, she had someone.

Maria turned her head to Elwood.

"Elwood, will you please accompany me?" she asked him quietly.

He said nothing, but nodded his head and walked by her side. Despite the weather being sunny, the atmosphere within the cemetery was eerie, yet very peaceful as the two musicians walked through the cemetery looking for the Valens parents. With his hands in his pockets, Elwood studied the cemetery while occasionally checking on Maria to make sure she way okay. A few minutes went by until Maria halted in place nearby a weeping willow tree. She finally found them; Juan & Esperanza Valens. Maria got on her knees and removed the dead flowers from the year before before she replaced them with the fresh ones.

Maria stared at the light gray arched tombstone with glassy eyes. Before she could stop herself, a tear ran down her cheek & she instantly turned away from Elwood.

"Don't look at me!" She commanded to him "I don't want you to see me like this…”

He felt pity as he watched her in this state. He gently placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“You…you don’t have to hide your feelings from me.” Elwood consoled

Maria’s eyes closed at the touch of his hand and let the tears flow.

"I never had anyone be with me while I visit them." She sobbed "You're the first one."

Elwood sighed in both sadness and confusion.

_What do I say to her?! What do I do?! How can I comfort her?!_

His hand left her shoulder and gently brought her closer to him in a gentle one armed embrace. Maria leaned her head against his shoulder and a hand on his chest.

_So…the kindness wasn't just flirting._

_He’s kind & caring even when I feel & look my worst…_

_He's not telling me to 'suck it up’…_

She closed her eyes as she basked in his comfort. She never had anyone hold her like that and it felt amazing. Elwood’s pulse raced as he felt her hand on his chest and her body pressed against his.

_I know I shouldn’t feel like this right now…especially because of how emotional she’s feeling right now…_

With a shaking hand, he placed his hand on her back and held her close to him to provide her with more comfort. After about a minute of silence, Maria lifted her head from his shoulders and looked up at him, sadly.

"Let's go." She whispered finally feeling a bit better emotionally.

Elwood nodded "Ok.”

The two musicians ended their embrace and walked back to the Bluesmobile in complete solemn silence as the groundskeeper began his job. Elwood and Maria left the cemetery and made their way into the Bluesmobile, with Maria in the passenger's seat. As Elwood began to drive away, Maria continued to contribute to the somber atmosphere inside the car as Elwood provided the occasional glance at her, to make sure she was alright.

After a few minutes, Maria decided to break the silence.

”You're lucky that you & Jake had each other from the beginning. You two had each other; and the family bond you two have is still going strong today! Me, I never thought that I would lose a family so young…"

"Do you mind if I asked what happened to them?" Elwood asked concerned "If it's too personal of a question to answer, I understand…"

"No, its alright."

She sighed & flash-backed to her horrible day as she explained it to Elwood.

* * *

_It was a dreary, cold & rainy afternoon as 5 year old Maria waited outside underneath her little red umbrella for her parents to pick her up from kindergarten. They tried to get to her, but they were stuck in traffic due to the rainy weather & closed roads. As they waited for the traffic to clear on the highway; an 18 wheeler truck, not aware of the traffic ahead of it, was driving over the speed limit & was soon driving out of control due to the slippery roads. The truck sped toward the traffic jam & before the driver could step on the brakes,he crashed into 6 cars, injuring many, but also killing some._

_Including Maria's parents…_

_Two hours went by before anyone could identify her parents & notify any close living relatives. Unfortunately, the only family they had was their daughter, who was still waiting for them back at her school._

_She had tears running down her little cheeks, worried about where her parents where & why they weren't there._

" _Mommy; Daddy!" she cried out "Where are you?"_

_A police officer arrived inside the school looking somber for having to deliver the horrible news to a little girl who was too young to handle something so life changing. The officer saw her & told her what happened. Little Maria began crying even more, feeling saddened & confused at the reality of not seeing her parents again, as she was carried in a police car from the school to St. Agnes' Orphanage._

_The rest is history…_

* * *

"And ever since then, I had no one to go to and I was so young when it happened, so how can I get over something like this? My ex-band always told me to 'suck it up & get over it' but they never knew how it felt!" she added angrily.

Elwood silently continued to looked out onto the road in front of them, his mind running with what to say to her. Remembering the way he was brought up at the orphanage, he thought of the perfect thing to say to her.

"Let me tell you this." He began “You're lucky that you had a mother & father figure who adored you. It's unfortunate that you lost them so young, but Jake & I strongly believe that the lord works in mysterious ways. Maybe he wanted your parents as guardian angels for you so that they can help you be successful in life. Your parents may not be here physically, but they're watching over you spiritually. If The Penguin taught me anything, it was that loved ones can look after their family after they're gone. Knowing you & what you're doing right now, I know they're proud of you…"

Maria’s heart gently rose from it’s heaviness at the genuine kindness of his words.

"That's a very beautiful thought, Elwood. Thank you.”

He gave her a gentle smile before turning back to the road and placed his hand over hers while his other continued to be on the steering wheel.

"No problem at all"

Everything was quiet within the Bluesmobile yet again. Maria’s sadness felt like it was slowly melting away as Elwood's mind ran.

_It felt so good having her in my arms…_

_And that look in her eyes when she noticed me…_

_I just hope she's ok for the rest of the day & night._

"Maria?"

"Yes?"

"Would it be too much to ask if…I ask to see you again tonight?” he asked her with a hint of worry “I just want to make sure you will be ok for the rest of the day. If you want to be left alone, I understand…”

_How can I say no to him after what he showed me?_

"I know I will be ok for the rest of the day” She murmured “but…I still want to see you.”

He looked at her & smiled, feeling relieved "What do you want to do? Another jam session?”

“Okay” Maria replied, with slight happiness “Let's say we meet in my room about…6:30 tonight?”

"Sure. It's a date then."


	11. Oh! Darling...

After Elwood had dropped her off at her room, Maria entered inside and scanned around her messy room. Her records were scattered next to her record player, her bed wasn’t made, and the whole place looked like it needed to be vacuumed and dusted.

_Fuck, this place is a mess._

As soon as she finished putting on her The Beatles: Live at the BBC vinyl, she dashed to under her bathroom sink, got her cleaning supplies and began dusting the place. As The Beatles crooned their love songs, her mind began to flood with sentimental thoughts about Elwood.

_What he said to me today was so sweet…He didn’t have to escort me and be with me, but he did._

She began to sing along to the song as she continued to clean and dreamily think of the Blues Brother…

_But of all these friends and lovers_

_There is no one compares with you.._

 

_And these memories lose their meaning_

_When I think of love as something new_

 

_Though I know I'll never lose affection_

_For people and things that went before_

_I know I'll often stop and think about them_

 

With a blush of her cheeks, she sang the lyrics.

_In my life…I love you more…_

* * *

As Maria was busy with her room, Elwood stormed into his and Jake’s room.

“Jake, I need your help man!"

Sitting on the edge of his bed, Jake was taken back by Elwood’s distressed state.

“ ‘Hell’s the matter with you?!”

"Maria invited me to her place tonight at 6:30 and…"

"Whoah whoa whoa…" interrupted Jake as he lifted his hands up "So you're telling me, the one chick you've been drooling for, ever since we've met her, invited you to her place?"

"I didn't drool for her" replied Elwood annoyed "but yes, she invited me to hang out with her for a jam session.”

Jake laughed & nudged his younger brother on the shoulder with his elbow

”Good for you man! Hey, is tonight gonna be your 3rd date with her?"

Elwood looked up in thought & replied “Uh…yeah."

Jake looked proud & wrapped his arm around Elwood's shoulder in a brotherly fashion.

"Tonight, little brother, shall be the night where you get to first base."

"What?" Elwood replied alarmingly.

"And who knows…Maybe you'll start on first & go straight for the third, if you play your cards right!” Jake assumed with a smug grin

"But I told you, I don't want that yet!" Elwood explained impatiently as he got up from his bed & paced the room "I don't even want her to see me without my shades yet…"

"So then how does she like you if she hasn’t even seen your whole face?” Jake asked

"She likes my personality, I guess" Elwood replied with a shrug

"Please,” doubted Jake "your personality can be dryer than the toast you eat."

"Jake, you're not helping!"

"So what the hell am I supposed to say, Mr. Loverboy?" Jake asked impatiently

"Can you at least give me reasonable advice?"

Jake sighed with a roll of his eyes "I honestly don't know what to say. It's not everyday I see you so smitten for a chick, so I guess all I can say is to treat her right & make sure she treats you right."

Elwood smiled a bit & patted Jake on the shoulder. "Thanks. You're right though; it's not every day I’m like this..”

Jake snickered a bit. "When the time comes, show her how you really feel."

* * *

Before Elwood knew it, 6:30 quickly arrived. He adjusted his hat and tie as he took a deep breath and headed towards the door.

"Go get her, you dirty son of a bitch!” Jake encouraged with a snicker & a nudge on Elwood's shoulder.

"Why is everything so perverted with you?" Elwood mumbled as he stepped out of the room

"Use protection!"

"Goodbye Jake!" Elwood yelled out, ignoring what he said, as he shut the door behind him & walked off.

Elwood approached Maria’s door knocked gently on it.

"Coming!"

He heard hurried footsteps running towards the door & the guitarist opened the door in her lounge clothes that consisted of a black tank top and dark purple lounge pants.

"Hey, man.” She greeted with a wink “C’mon in, make yourself at home.”

Elwood stepped in her room & looked around as he sat down on the foot of her bed and removed his black suit jacket and his hat. The room was a hell of a lot tidier than the brothers' & far more interesting.

On her wall he noticed a huge framed poster of John Lennon with Paul McCartney working together in the studio. Right underneath was a record player & a tower of many scattered albums. Right next to that were two guitars (one acoustic & the other electric) and an amp. By the outside balcony, he noticed a small dingy couch beside a small table and two ashtrays.

"It's not much" Maria said from her refrigerator.

She approached Elwood with two beers and gave him one.

“But home is where the heart is”

Elwood gave her a small smile in thanks for the beer and popped the bottle cap before taking a swig. She began rummaging around her album collection for something to put on her record player and Elwood noticed on her nightstand a picture of a little girl & what looked like her parents.

_Younger Maria & her parents…_

"It’s you.“

She looked up from her collection and smiled as he looked at the small withered picture.

"Yup. I was 5."

"Your mom was beautiful" he complimented kindly as he set the picture down back in it’s place "You look so much like her."

She beamed at his flattery, walked towards the record player & put on a record; something she thought Elwood would enjoy. The trumpet played & Elwood instantly recognized the song.

"This is Louis Jordan!" he exclaimed

"Yeah, ‘Let the good times roll'. I've always liked this song." She replied as the music played

 _Hey, everybody, let's have some fun_  
You only live but once  
And when you're dead you're done, so Let the good times roll, let the good times roll

_I don't care if you're young or old  
Get together, let the good times roll_

_Don't sit there mumblin', talkin' trash_  
_If you wanna have a ball_  
 _You gotta go out and spend some cash, and_  
 _Let the good times roll, let the good times roll_  
 _I don't care if you're young or old_  
 _Get together, let the good times roll_

She opened the sliding glass door to let the fresh air in and sat down on the nearby couch. Elwood approached the couch and sat himself beside her as he took a swig of his drink.

“You know,” he began “I’m very surprised at you.”

"Is that good?" she asked coyly

"Of course it is! You have no idea how many musically uneducated people I have met, and now I'm glad I met someone who actually is."

Maria smiled shyly at him & at his kind words.

"But you know what?" she asked "You're musically educated too. Most people I know listen to pop & glam rock, but you keep the emotionality of the blues alive whether it's a sad song or a happy one…although, a happy blues song is quite an oxymoron, isn’t it?”

Elwood gave a chuckle.

“I’m also surprised you’re actually quite humble.” He added “When I first met you, you were very provocative onstage…”

Maria drank her bottle “It’s my stage persona, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a bit of truth to that”

She gave him a smug smile, remembering how she was purposefully seductive towards him onstage. She got up from the couch and got two more drinks from her fridge.

“On top of that” she continued as she made an underhand toss to Elwood with a can of Miller Lite “One has to demonstrate confidence in what they do or else the critics will eat you alive. Especially in a highly competitive area, like the music business…”

Elwood took a minute to absorb what she had said

_Huh…that’s an unfortunate truth…_

“So, Mr. Blues Brother…”

Elwood snapped out of his thoughts and noticed Maria carrying an electric guitar on her lap, plugged into an amp and ready to go.

“How about some some Muddy Waters?”

She began to play the piano intro riff and segwayed into the actual guitar riff played into the song. Elwood caught her drift and took out his harp before playing along with her. Both musicians felt the power of the music as Elwood and Maria danced to the rhythm.

Elwood belted out into the song, making Maria feel elated.

_Got my mojo working, but it just won't work on you_

_Got my mojo working, but it just won't work on you_

_I wanna love you so bad, I don't know what to do_

Maria winked at him, following those lyrics, and bit her lip as she scooted closer to him. Elwood felt his pulse race but he tried to hide his nervousness by continuing the song.

_I'm going down to Louisiana to get me a mojo hand_

_I'm going down to Louisiana to get me a mojo hand_

_I'm gonna have all you women right here at my command_

Elwood belt out the chorus of the song, making Maria swoon over the deepness and power of his voice.

_Got my mojo working_

_Got my mojo working_

_Got my mojo working_

_Got my mojo working_

_Got my mojo working, but it just won't work on you_

_Oh, I think it’s working on me just fine_

Maria thought as she continued to gaze amorously at Elwood

Elwood, meanwhile, continued to play to his heart's content on his harp, making a perfect harmony alongside Maria’s guitar. Elwood looked up from his harp and directed his words at the woman to his right, making them lock eyes.

_I got a gypsy woman givin' me advice_

_I got a gypsy woman givin' me advice_

_I got some red hot tips I got to keep on ice_

The musicians continued to lock eyes as they performed the outro of the Muddy Waters classic. The music just sort of faded, much like the way the song was recorded on the record. As they were finished with the song, the pair of musicians remained silent, both of their heads spinning with tension and the adrenaline the music provided for them.

Maria broke the silence by clearing her throat.

“Well uh…” she said hoarsely “I’m getting another drink…”

She got up from the couch to the fridge and Elwood said nothing as he stared at the screen door ahead of him, incredulous about what he had experienced with Maria.

_That was…wow…_

She took out a rubber band and tied her thick long hair back, leaving a stray wavy lock that highlighted her face. She came back with another beer for her and drank it quietly.

“That was pretty great”

Maria nodded in agreement. “The power of music can be huge..”

She absentmindedly strummed on her electric guitar, and continued to do so as Elwood watched her fingers work. Maria found herself playing a simple melody and singing quietly

 _Oh-oh! Darling, please believe me_  
_I'll never do you no harrr-rrm_  
 _Believe me when I tell you_  
 _I'll never do you no harrr-rrm…_

Elwood made himself comfortable on the couch as he continued to watch her play and sing with great interest.

 _Oh-oh! Darling, if you leave me_  
_I'll never make it alooo-oone_  
 _Believe me when I beg you-oooooh_  
 _Don't ever leave me alooo-oone._

_When you told me you didn't need me anymorrrre  
Well you know I nearly broke down and criii-iiii-iiied_

Elwood noticed that as she sang, anger flashed in her eyes & she belted out with enormous intensity in her raspy voice, as if pleading to whoever is making her feel that way.

_Talk about singing the blues…_

  
_When you told me you didn't need me anymore_  
 _Well you know I nearly fell down and diiiii-iiiii-iiiiied_

She caught her breath and continued.

 _Oh-oh! Darling, if you leave me_  
I'll never make it alooo-oone  
Believe me when I tell you  
I'll never do you no harrrr-rrm

_Believe me, darling!_

He continued watching her with mixed emotions of wonder, awe & wariness.

_When you told me you didn't need me anymore_   
_Well you know I nearly broke down and criiiii-iii-iii-iiied_   
_When you told me you didn't need me anymooooooore!_   
_Well you know I nearly fell down and diii-iiiii-ied_

_Ohhhh! Darrrrling, please believe me  
I'll never leeee-eet you down_

_Oh believe me, darling.._  
_Believe me when I tell you-uuu_  
 _I'll never DO YOU NO HARRRRRRRRM._

After a fierce sounding final strum, she continued to quake in anger. Elwood felt uncomfortable and cautiously approached her.

"Maria…are you ok?"

She looked up at him and the anger slowly faded from her eyes upon looking at his concern.

"I'm fine" she murmured quietly ”I just…chose the wrong song to play for you, I guess. It always made me think of my ex-band."

She took a minute to compose herself and adjusted in her seat.

“We were all friends who just wanted to be rock stars. We started a band together, booked successful gigs, & things seemed to be going so well for us. It wasn't until we had major success that…tensions & expectations were rising. The band members began getting greedy & lustful for fame and turned into people I didn’t even recognize. We fought constantly, until I got a phone call from our manager, saying I was fired.”

She sighed as she briefly flash-backed to the night she got fired and found herself in that alleyway where she would hurt her knee.

"I honestly don't know why they ever fired me. I know there were tensions, but it still hurt when they did it…”

"Maybe they felt…intimidated by you.” Elwood thought with a shrug.

"But why would they be intimidated by me?"

He paused, unsure of what to say.

_Tell her something honest.._

"Well" he began hesitantly "You're…um…a r-really talented musician who can really steal a show. I bet they were worried that you were too good for them."

She was silent for a moment as she looked at him, touched by his words.

"Am I too good for you?"

He knew what she meant.

_Is she too good for the band?_

“I think you’re perfect for the band and I…”

“No”

Elwood paused and blinked behind his shades in confusion. Maria scooted her body closer to him, making her hip and leg get into contact with his.

“I meant…um…”

She gave him the same amorous look in her eyes that he wished that was aimed at him when Maria “flirted” with Mr. Fabulous.

“Am I too good for you?”

Elwood remained silent, baffled at her question and enthralled by the way she was looking at him

_God, she’s so beautiful…_

He mentally slapped himself

_Answer her, Godammit!! Don't be a coward!_

With a shaking hand, he tucked the stray lock of hair behind her ear & responded quietly "You're perfect for the band and, I think you are too good for me; but unlike your band, I would never leave you.”

Her heart began racing as she gazed at him dreamily and put her hand on his.

_Go for it Elwood, her eyes are pleading for your kiss._

His mind drifted to Jake’s advice

_When the time comes, lean in towards her, not completely kissing her yet & let her make the decision on whether she would kiss you back or not._

He cupped her face between his hands, gazing into her wide brown eyes. He knew what he was doing to do next was risky, but it was worth the risk. With closed eyes, Elwood, ignoring Jake's advice, gently placed his lips against hers. Maria’s blood flooded to her face as she momentarily remained breathless with what he did, but she couldn't deny that she was full of bliss. She kept her eyes closed as she wrapped her arms around his neck to bring them closer and deepen the kiss. For a while they sat there on the couch in each other's bliss. Maria broke the kiss apart for air and gave Elwood a breathless grin as she remained silent. Elwood returned the grin and was about to go for another one, until he heard his watch go off.

He quickly glanced down at it.

"Damn!" he whispered. "It's late.”

"Don't go!" she whispered, holding his hand and going for another kiss.

Elwood returned the kiss for a few seconds before he stopped it.

"I have to go. We have an appointment tomorrow with our manager, Maury Sline, to see if he can get us an even bigger gig."

She sighed, knowing she still had a responsibility to help the brothers out in their quest.

"Ok"

He held her hand and gave her a reassuring kiss before he departed from her room back to his. Once he had left, Maria’s heart raced with happiness as she mouthed to herself: _Wow a_ nd fell backwards onto her bed in a bliss. Elwood,meanwhile, staggered back to his room, his heart and mind racing with what he had experienced.

 _I think tonight was proof that I shouldn’t always follow Jake’s advice._ He reflected as he smirked to himself and led himself into his room.


	12. New Secrets and New Gigs

_If the sun refuse to shine,_

_I don't mind, I don't mind,_

_If the mountains fell in the sea,_

_let it be, it ain't me._

_Alright, 'cos I got my own world to look through,_

_And I ain't gonna copy you._

 

_Now if 6 turned out to be 9…_

 

“AH SHIT!”

The poetic words of Jimi Hendrix were interrupted as Maria cried out and clenched her eyes shut. She stretched out her arms and tried to blindly search for a rag in her shower until she felt a damp rag and wiped her eyes with it before rinsing her eyes with the running water. She rinsed the rest of her hair and stepped out of the shower with a towel wrapped around her chest after the song had concluded. The record player continued to play into the next song, as the song began with the faint beating of drums and a distinct echoing sliding guitar.

_Waterfall, nothing can harm me at all,_

_My worries seem so very small_

_With my waterfall._

 

_I can see my rainbow calling me_

_Through the misty breeze_

_Of my waterfall_

 

Maria whistled along to the song as she dried herself off and began to get dressed into her outfit of the day.

_I guess the sundress with the stripes would be nice…and the boots to match._

As she put on her dress, her mind focused on the lyrics of the song..

 

_So let them laugh, laugh at me,_

_So just as long as I have you_

 

_To see me through,_

_I have nothing to lose 'long as I have you._

 

Upon hearing those lyrics, her mind drifted to Elwood and their previous encounter the night before, making her smile dreamily as she brushed her hair and sang the last chorus of the song.

 

_Waterfall, don't ever change your ways._

_Fall with me for a million days,_

_Oh, my waterfall._

 

Her mind continued to linger as she tied her hair back to prepare her makeup and listened to the remainder of the song. She remembered Elwood’s words to her right before he went in for the kiss.

" _You're perfect for the band and, I think you are too good for me; but unlike your band, I won't leave you."_

Maria paused her thoughts as she slowly comprehended what he had said

_Why does he think I'm too good for him? He’s a much better person than me!_

She turned off her record player and made her way down the downstairs lobby and the breakfast area. Turning around the corner, she found her new _boyfriend_ seated at one of the tables reading the morning paper in his casual white shirt & black tie while a cup of coffee and a plate of toast rested beside his arm. Maria’s heart beat faster upon approaching at him.

“Good morning, handsome.“

Elwood looked up at her & smiled shyly

"Good Morning"

Maria kissed him on the forehead before getting her usual Bagel & cream cheese breakfast with some orange juice. She sat beside him at the table.

"I wanna…um…ask you something about yesterday."

Elwood turned to her. ”Ok"

She paused to collect her thoughts before continuing

”When you told me yesterday that I'm too good for you, why exactly did you say that? I know I should've asked you that last night, but I was…caught up in the moment I guess." She added with a blush.

Elwood let out a sigh.

“Well” He began “I’m just a poor struggling musician who’s pretty much a convict…”

Maria shrugged her shoulders “So am I…”

Elwood looked at her curiously

“You’re not a convict.”

She let out a small chuckle “Maybe not as much as you or Jake, but I’ve gotten myself arrested a few times. I’m not exactly proud of that…but I have to be honest.”

Elwood seemed to be at a loss for words

_I guess we have a lot more in common than I thought.._

He shrugged his shoulders and looked down on the table

 _“_ Well you know…a woman like you is with a guy like me.”

"What do you mean ‘a guy like you?" She asked confusedly

Elwood looked a little hesitant before admitting his honesty.

_I don’t think she gets it, at all.._

“Where do I start? You're talented, beautiful, & outgoing; while I’m…ok at what I do, I’m not that outgoing, and I’m sure as hell not handsome, so It's intriguing that you like a guy like me.”

Maria's heart sank a little.

_I know he’s different, but that's why I like him in the first place._

_It’s sad seeing him so insecure about himself when he shouldn't be…_

She gently held one of his tattooed hands.

“Don’t put yourself down like that“ She comforted. "You're a much better person than you think you are. Look at what you and Jake are doing for St. Helen’s!”

He looked up at her & saw that her brown eyes were serious. Things were quiet between them until Maria rested her head on his shoulder.

"You know, you comforting me yesterday in the cemetery & kissing me made me realize that It had been awhile since I've been with a great guy like you…"

"Really?" he asked, slightly surprised by her declaration.

"Well…let me rephrase that….It made me realize that I haven't been with a great guy like you…at all."

He raised his eyebrows; even more surprised “You mean you’ve dated worse men than me?“

Maria nodded her head. “Uh huh.”

“They must’ve been really shitty dates, then.”

Maria gave out a small laugh “You have no idea…my Waterfall.” she added with a murmur.

Elwood looked puzzled by what she had said. She stroked the back of his hand with her thumb and sang the Hendrix lyrics she had hear earlier that morning.

_So let them laugh, laugh at me,_

_So just as long as I have you_

_To see me through,_

_I have nothing to lose 'long as I have you._

She looked up at him, locking her eyes with his shaded eyes.

_Waterfall, don't ever change your ways._

_Fall with me for a million days,_

_Oh, my waterfall…_

Elwood gave her a bashful smile, feeling really flattered by what she sang to him.

_I never had a woman sing to me before…_

He leaned towards her and gave her a loving kiss, with Maria happily returning it.

Meanwhile, Jake began descending downstairs from his room to get his breakfast. He walked in the kitchen & froze in his tracks at what he saw. His shy little brother was finally kissing his favorite guitarist. The shorter Blues Brother crossed his arms and gave them a smug smile.

“Well, nice to see that you two are in the midst of young love.”

Elwood and Maria broke apart their kiss as Jake grabbed himself a chair and sat on the other side of the table in front of them.

“Look,” Jake began “I don’t have any problems with you guys dating, but we do have to focus on the main goal right now.”

“I know.” Maria reassured with confidence. “I’m not gonna lose focus. Trust me, I don’t want history to repeat itself.”

Jake and Elwood looked confusedly at her. When she noticed their stares, she set down her food and adjusted in her seat.

“When I was about 15, St. Agnes’ got repossessed and I was moved to another place. It was actually what made Sister Mary relocate to St. Helen’s and…i don’t want those kids to face the same things I did.”

The brothers remained silent, unsure of what to say

“Well” Elwood spoke up “I’m sorry you went through that. That’s very unfortunate.”

“So…I guess I don’t have to doubt your dedication, I guess” Jake admitted. “But there’s something else we gotta think about.”

“What?” Elwood asked

“The band.” Jake replied. He raised an eyebrow at the new couple “Do you want them to know of this?”

Elwood and Maria looked at each other uneasily.

"I think it's easier if we keep this a secret.” Elwood replied, still having his eyes on Maria. "I don't want any problems if they do have any problems with us…"

Maria nodded her head in agreement.

"I doubt it, man." Jake disagreed.

“Yeah, right” Maria replied with a roll of her eyes “Tell that to Mr. Fabulous, who pretty much called me Yoko Ono. If he knew about this, he would have a legit reason to call me Yoko!”

“Who cares!” Jake exclaimed with a hint of annoyance. “I thought you, out of all people, wouldn’t care!”

“But what if it causes so much tension within the band that Mr. Fabulous leaves?” Maria argued. “Trust me, I’ve seen it happen before in the past”

Jake remained silent, as he didn't know how to give a rebuttal from that.

“Well...just keep things professional onstage whenever we do a gig” Jake told her “to keep things on the down-low."

Elwood shrugged a bit, realizing his brother had a good point.

"I noticed the way you two were when we were at performing Rawhide, and if you keep that up, your cover will be blown. So don't make out or screw onstage or whatever…”

Maria rolled her eyes “Oh, shut the hell up”

* * *

Later on that day, Jake, Elwood, and Maria made their way to The Dive bar, where they and the rest of the band agreed to meet Maury Sline at. Elwood noticed how antsy Maria was as she twiddled with her fingers and thumbs as she looked around and tried to look confident.

“Jake and I will try to be extra persuasive with him” Elwood comforted “You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to.”

Maria gave him a small smile in thanks. The trio turned around the corner towards the block where The Dive was located

"I hope this next gig we get; we get the money up front." Elwood said in with worry in his voice "We can't be wasting our time & only getting 500 bucks each gig. It's do or die, man."

"I know." Replied Jake, equally stressed out. "I just hope we can convince Maury to give us something good."

“MARIA?! MARIA VALENS?!”

The trio of musicians halted in their tracks, alarmed by the shrill voice. The guitarist slowly turned her head around and saw an unfamiliar brunette woman rapidly approaching her. Maria turned to the brothers and mumbled.

“You guys go in and start without me, I’ll deal with this myself”

“But what if she turns out crazy?” Elwood asked with concern in his voice, while looking up at the gleeful stranger.

“I have my pocket knife just in case things violent.” Maria replied with a pat of her front pocket.

“Yeah, she can do it.” Jake dismissed with urgency in his voice “C’mon Elwood!”

Elwood was at first hesitant, as he seemed concerned about Maria, but he soon followed Jake inside the bar. The eager woman approached Maria excitedly as Maria put a hand in her pocket, ready to defend herself.

“Aren’t you Maria Valens from Instant Karma and The Blues Brothers band?”

Maria crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow suspiciously.

“Who wants to know?”

The woman held out her hand for Maria to shake “I’m Hailey Sline. I was actually at one of your recent gigs at The Dive Bar!”

_Hmm..she doesn’t seem that crazy, I guess. She seems nice enough…just really hyperactive._

Still cautious about the woman, Maria limply shook her hand.

“Hi. Thanks for catching one of my gigs.”

“Chrissy said that you were in The Blues Brothers band now, is that true?”

“Who the hell’s Chrissy?” Maria asked alarmingly “How does she know I’m with the band?!”

_No one outside this band knows of this!_

Hailey looked taken back by Maria’s alarming tone “Chrissy is my sister! She’s the woman who hired you guys at Garden Land”

Maria’s eyes widened in recognition as all doubt escaped her “Ohh!! Yeah, I remember her!”

Hailey looked relieved. “She’s actually been wanting to keep in contact with you guys, but you never gave her a card with a number she could reach you at!”

_Jake is probably in charge of that…but he was too busy trying to flirt with her!_

“Shit, I’m very sorry” Maria apologized “I’ll try to get one of the boys to talk to her soon.”

“Actually,” Hailey continued “You could probably talk to my brother, Maury. I think he’s in a meeting though…”

Maria held her hand up “Wait! Wait! Maury…Maury Sline is your brother?! The boys and I were on our way to meet with him!!”

_It’s a small fucking world after all!_

* * *

“Maury c’mon, you owe us! We will do anything for anybody!” Jake pleaded with their agent.

The Brothers and the rest of the band were spread apart, with the band having a casual lunch in one table while Jake and Elwood chatted with Maury in a different table.

“Put us in the Double-Up Lounge, or the Crystal, we always knock ‘em dead in those joints!” Elwood exclaimed.

“Discos…” the curly haired manager answered tiredly with a roll of his eyes “They’re all discos now..singles ...mixed singles ... gay singles...these people like to dance with each other!”

“But we are a dance band!” Jake replied

“They want string sections” Maury argued “Look, how many pieces you got?

“Seven.” Jake answered

“Um, Jake it’s actually eight….” Elwood corrected

“How far do you want to drive?” Maury asked.

Before Elwood could answer, the bar door opened and two women entered the bar. Elwood noticed Maria and Hailey with a look of confusion. Jake noticed as well and also had the same reaction as his younger brother.

“Maury!” Hailey called out.

Maury noticed his younger sister approach him and he looked cautious. “Hailey! I thought I told you to wait until I’m done with the meeting!”

“But Maury, I need to talk to you!”

He gave an impatient sigh and turned to the Brothers “Hold on, boys. Let me take care of this.”

Maury and his sister distanced themselves from the trio of musicians as the brothers approached Maria.

“What the hell’s going on?!” Jake hissed at her.

“Who is that girl?” Elwood wondered

“Apparently she’s a fan of mine” Maria replied with a flip of her hair “She knew me in Instant Karma and actually went to my gig you guys attended.”

“How the hell does she know Maury?” Jake asked

“Maury is her brother!” Maria exclaimed “And her sister Christina was the woman who hired us at Garden Land. Hailey told me that Christina has actually been trying to keep in contact with us and rehire us.”

“Unless she’s gonna give us the five grand we need, I don’t think we can work something out with her.” Elwood commented “We can’t be going for the 500 dollar gigs right now.”

* * *

“Why the hell does Chrissy want them for the wedding?!” Maury asked his younger sister, flabbergasted by what she told him.

“Because she liked them when they were at the amusement park!” Hailey argued back “Why don’t you want to offer this to them?”

Maury rolled his eyes “Let me just say that Jake, Elwood, and I have some differences.”

“You do realize your future brother in law is pretty loaded, right?” Hailey continued “and you’re their agent, so If he pays them a good salary, you’ll be getting a good cut of the money.”

“Hmmm.” Maury hummed as he began to think about what she had said,

_She’s right…I bet Dave will pay top dollar just to see his future wife happy with the band she chose…_

“Alright, I’ll tell them.”

* * *

As the trio of musicians continued to talk amongst themselves, Maria noticed Hailey leaving the bar happily.

“Bye Maria, see you in Vegas!”

Hailey left the bar, hindering Maria speechless and confused.

“V…Vegas?”

“Yeah” Maury replied “My other sister Chrissy, whom you guys know already, is getting married and she wants you guys to be performing in it. That’s why she’s been wanting to contact you.”

The three musicians eyes widened and their mouths were left agape.

“Holy shit, I’ve never been to Vegas!” Maria exclaimed happily

“But how are we gonna get there?” Elwood asked “We need to be paid as fast as possible so I don’t think we can drive there.”

“I can pull some strings and get her fiancee to fly you guys out there, all expenses paid.” Maury replied. “The only catch is…is that I want a percentage of the gig.”

“Hey, just as long as we get our five grand, I think we will be alright.” Maria replied, trying to contain her excitement.

“You got yourself a deal” Jake said to Maury, holding his hand out for a shake.

Their agent shook his hand, thus solidifying the deal.

The Blues Brothers band were officially Vegas bound.


	13. Backstories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very sorry it took me this long to add another chapter. I've been really busy with work and personal stuff in my life. I'm in the process of moving to a different apartment and working at my new job at Universal Studios. The Blues Brothers show over there is pretty awesome and I got hit on my Jake. Hahaha.

Soon after the band’s triumphant victory with their new gig, the bar was packed with some of it’s regular patrons as the band lingered around, relaxing and having a good time in celebration. Elwood, Mr. Fabulous, and Duck Dunn sat by the smoking area of the bar playing poker, while Willie Hall, Jake, and Blue Lou teamed up against Maria, Bones Malone, and Matt, for a game of Billiards with Murph keeping score.

“Hold on a second guys, I’ll be right back” Maria addressed the guys as she made her way to the jukebox.

She glanced inside of it and skimmed around for the song of her choice until she came across the Disraeli Tears album from Cream. She scanned the album until she saw her song of choice. She put in a quarter in the jukebox and selected the song _Sunshine of Your Love._ Upon hearing the familiar riff, she couldn’t help but dance to it. Hearing that too familiar riff always made her confidence go burst the roof and she strutted back towards the pool table, with the cue stick resting on her shoulders as she continued to smoke her cigarette. Elwood, upon hearing the song, liked the blues inspired riff of Eric clapton and turned to the jukebox to listen to the song better. He however found himself glancing at Maria strut back to the pool table and watching her hips sway to the rhythm of the song. Duck Dunn and Mr. Fabulous noticed Elwood admiring her and glanced at each other with a concerned look on their faces. Maria arrived at the pool table as Jake bent forward and concentrated on the white cue ball in front of him.

“Red at the Left corner pocket” he mumbled to himself, before he hit the cue ball and missed the solid red ball.

He huffed in frustration as he stepped to the side to let Maria have her turn. She hopped on the edge of the pool table to sit down, crossed her legs and aimed at the white cue ball with a cigarette in her mouth. With a smug look on her face, she successfully hit the ball into the corner picket. She hopped from her seat on the table as Jake looked at her with a sneer.

“You know, you’re supposed to be smoking where my brother is” He said with pettiness in his voice.

She winked at him and blew smoke from her mouth after she took the cigarette away. “Don’t be jealous a woman can hustle better than you, Jakey”

Jake scowled and pointed a finger at her as he lowered his voice “If you weren’t fucking my brother, I would’ve been angrier with you.”

She rolled her eyes in annoyance “Shut the fuck up, Jake.”

Jake flipped her off and gave her a smug smile before returning to the game. Maria gave him a sneer as she watched him have his turn with her arms crossed. As the musicians continued to play their game, a large bearded burly man made his way into the bar after he removed his biker helmet. He ordered himself a drink before turning around in his chair and noticing Maria. The way she bent over to reach the cue balls really caught his attention. Out of the corner of his eyes from the other side of the room, Elwood noticed the heavily built man gazing at Maria’s backside and formed a scowl on his face. Duck Dunn noticed Elwood’s sudden mood change.

“Hey man,” he began, shooting glances between at the stranger and Elwood “You alright?”

“Yeah. I’m fine” was all Elwood mumbled as he tried to focus his attention to the next cigarette he was going to light. “I just…don’t like the way he’s looking at her.”

“Why do you care?” Duck asked with a shrug “I’m sure she can defend herself”

Elwood remained silent but continued to keep on eye on Maria.Meanwhile, the guitarist was about to have her turn again when she heard a voice from behind her.

“Hey baby, your dress make your ass look great!”

Jake raised his eyebrows over the comment as Maria squinted her eyes and clenched her jaw in anger.

_Just ignore him…and he’ll go away. He’s just like all the other fuck faces…_

Jake turned to his brother and noticed him looking extremely livid over the comment. The younger Blues brother dropped his cigarette and charged his way towards the stranger, catching the attention of the other band members.

“Look pal,” Elwood began angrily “She doesn’t want to talk to you or hear your comments!”

The man glowered at Elwood and pushed him away “This ain’t your fuckin’ business, asshole. ”

Maria turned to the guy, now angrier than ever. “Don’t you fucking touch him! If you touch him one more time, I swear to God I’ll…”

He interrupted her with laughter “Oh, we’ve got ourselves a spicy one! I’m not surprised though, all you spic women are like that.”

Behind his shades, Jake widened his eyes at the comment. Elwood clenched his fists and was about to throw a punch when Maria lifted a hand to stop him, strangely calm.

“Elwood.” she began quietly “Do me a small favor, and please get me a beer.”

The brothers as well as the rest of the band all looked at her like she was insane.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Jake hissed.

Maria turned to Jake “I’m just asking for a beer!”

Jake remained speechless and confused as Elwood said nothing and he managed to give her a beer. She took it from him with a sweet smile and a flirty wink in thanks. She opened it and gulped it all down quickly.

“Ahhh” she sighed after the last sip. “Thats good stuff…now I think…”

Out of nowhere, she spun around and smashed the beer bottle right onto the man’s temple, knocking him to the ground. Maria took the broken bottle neck and held it against his throat as he began to bleed profusely, as the band looked on in bewilderment and horror.

“Look asshole” she growled “Either you get the fuck out of here before I make things worse for you, or I’ll have my friends here make you leave! What’s it gonna be, huh?!” she added as she pressed the broken neck closer into his neck.

Jake, Willie Hall, and Matt Murphy stepped forward to grab the guy by the collar and forced him towards the buildings exit. As the three men escorted him out, Elwood ran to Maria, who looked pretty shaken.

“Are you alright?” he asked quietly before he gently took her hand.

Upon feeling his hand on her’s, she looked up at him with glassy eyes and gave him a small shrug.

Murph approached her from the corner of the pool table “Wow! I gotta say, that was some of the best acts of self defense I’ve ever seen. Where did you learn that?!”

Maria looked at Murph sadly, almost ready to cry. She lifted her hair up and showed Murph a long scar she had at the base of her neck

“I learned that shortly after I got this” she replied quietly.

Elwood and Murph gazed at the scar and back to Maria, completely silent.

“It was precisely because of assholes like him and the ones who did this to me, that my dad had to change his name” Maria said as she covered her scar again. “The 60’s are over, but racism is still alive and well.”

“Wait” Mr. Fabulous began as he approached her “Your dad changed his name? Is that why your last name’s Valens?”

Maria nodded her head “He legally changed it before I was born. He and his Doo-wop band wanted to be put on the airwaves, so he had to go by “Johnny Valens” to capitalize on Ritchie Valens’ fame. Thats why my last name is actually Valens…”

Elwood and Murph remained silent, as they couldn’t find the proper response to her story. At that moment, Jake, Matt, and Willie returned back inside the bar and approached Maria.

“Well, that was one hell of an adventure” Jake commented with a small chuckle.

He glanced at Maria, expecting her to laugh along, but saw that she wasn’t exactly in the mood. His smile disappeared.

“I’m sorry that happened.” he said indifferently.

She gave him a glance, let out a big sigh, and shook her head, trying to forget what happened “I think I need another drink…”

“Here, let me buy it for you.” Jake offered “It’s the least I can do.”

He fished his pockets for the proper amount of money to buy her a strong drink, but Maria stopped him by putting a hand on his shoulder

“Thanks Jake, but I need something super strong to make me forget that encounter.”

She approached the bar tender and gave him some money. “Give me three jack and cokes”

The bartender served her the three drinks and she drank them all one after an other as if they were shots. After the three drinks, she winced at the burn.

“Fuck!”

She shook her head as her head spun around.

“Another!” she addressed to the bartender, throwing him more money

The band looked at her with concern.

“Um…Maria?” Elwood began but Maria interrupted him with a slight slur in her voice.

“Don’t worry man, Ill be alright!”

She stumbled a bit in her seat as she placed a hand on his shoulder “This is how I always solve my problems!”

Jake shrugged his shoulders “I can relate to that.”

Maria glanced at him and smiled with a twinkle in her eyes “See! Jake has the idea! Hell, I deserve these damn drinks! My life fucking sucks!”

The bartender gave her her drink and she quickly gulps it down. She exhaled as her head continued to spin around.

“I don’t exactly blame you for being upset, since that slur was uncalled for” Mr. Fabulous commented “but how bad could your life possibly be?”

Maria turned to him, the smell of the booze emitting from her breath as she angrily pointed at him “Do you really wanna know about my parents who were killed in a car crash and the fact that I was threatened with a knife by cops who also called me a spic?!”

Mr. Fabulous glanced at her pointed finger and gently pushed it down from him “Well…now I know about it.” he commented sarcastically.

Elwood approached her and held her hand once again “Look, I know you’re upset about what happened, but you’re not alone in this. Jake and I didn’t exactly have a great past either, so we understand.”

“How so? What happened with you guys?” she asked him as she also glanced at Jake.

The Brothers looked at each other uneasily as did the rest of the band. The brothers realized that she was only asking because she was curious about their lives and she was tipsy.

"Well" began Jake "When we were eighteen, we decided to change our last names legally to "Blues" due to our love for Blues music."

Maria nodded her head and got herself another beer ”Understandable.”

Jake leaned back against the bar with his arms crossed as he hesitated to tell the story. Elwood gave him a look that said “Just go with it” Jake sighed as a flashback played in his head as he explained his story…

"So we went to The Penguin to tell her, and to get our birth certificates, and she told us about how we became to be orphans after we finally asked her about the authenticity of our certificates”

' _Jacob, I'm afraid you were born in a women's prison._ ' She said to me _'Your mother was Artesia Papageorge, who was sentenced to life in prison for killing her husband…’your father”_

Maria's heart sank & she gulped trying to prevent herself from crying. _My god! I thought I had it horrible; Poor Jake!_

"When she told me, I didn't know what to say…" he voice trailed off. "I would always think that my parents died in some sort of car crash or something and they gave their lives to protect me.”

Jake let out a disappointed sigh“When she told me the truth, I felt so ashamed. I was the son of a dead father & a jailbird mother who killed him. So The Penguin told me more, _'Your mother was having major complications with her pregnancy and she was on the verge of death when she was in labor. Her health was weakening as the labor went on and…her final request…was that you were to be named 'Jake'. She died as soon as you were born & the prison guards sent you here as the other guards buried her in the prison cemetery.'_

Jake remained silent after he finished the story. It wasn't everyday that he told his honest story & as much as he didn't want to admit it, he was still heartbroken over the reality of how he became to be. Maria felt the sadness from the older Blues Brother & she gave him a comforting embrace, in hopes of making him feel better. Jake was taken back by her sudden embrace.

_Is this supposed to be genuine or is this coming from her drinks?_

"I'm so sorry for what happened!” She told him sincerely, almost ready to cry “I didn’t realize that happened to you! I would never wish what happened to you on my worst enemy!”

Jake nodded a bit with pursed lips & patted her shoulder.

"You're a good woman, Maria." he said nonchalantly

She smiled a bit at him, but the mood within the band members was uncomfortable and somber due to the emotionality the story brought. They already knew his story, but they still felt the sad emotions of Jakes words.

"Uh…" Matt began to say uncomfortably "I think we're gonna go. Maria, tomorrow we're gonna have band practice & I'll show you the tabs & what to do for the songs we'll be performing at the wedding."

“Ok" she replied with a nod

The rest of the band walked off, still feeling down. As they left, Maria sighed & ran her hand through her hair, still recovering from Jake's heartbreaking story.

Elwood then spoke up "Now it's my turn unfortunately,"

She didn't want to be sad even more, but she still listened. She cared for Elwood and she wanted him to know that she'll listen to him & hear what he had to say no matter how painful it was. He listened to her story so now it was her turn to hear his.

"After The Penguin told Jake his history, I thought to myself _'How the hell is my story gonna turn out? Will mine be worse or equally as bad?'_ When she found my files, she told me my story."

Maria bit her bottom lip a bit, preparing for the worst.

" She said to me _'Elwood, I'm afraid that…we don't actually know if you're an orphan or not.'_ I replied to her 'How can you not know?'. She responded _'There was a man named Mike Delaney who was an investigating patrolman for downtown Chicago. One night he was strolling by a nearby newspaper stand when he heard a small cry. He looked around him to see where the cry was coming from, until he got closer to the stand. He noticed a crumpled stack move & he got closer to see what was making it move. What he saw astounded him. It was you Elwood, as an infant, cold & abandoned in the dark city streets._'

Maria bit her lip more to the point where it hurt & might bleed. She didn't care. She had to prevent a way from bawling.

He sighed & continued his story "When she told that to me, I was astonished as Jake was when he heard his story. It was that moment when I understood by what The Penguin meant when she said she wasn't sure if I was an orphan or not. I was abandoned, so my parents could've been alive…or dead. I asked her about the patrolman & she continued ' _Delaney took you in his arms, his heart full of pity & sadness that something so innocent & weak had to endure the cold & the harsh environment around it. He wanted to help you out somehow, but he couldn't. He didn't want children,& He couldn't handle the responsibility of a baby with his job & with no wife at home to help take care, so he brought you here to drop you off, instead of to adopt you. When I asked him what your name was, he decided to give you his last name & to call you 'Elwood.' Because even though he didn't adopt you, he felt responsible to at least give you something you'll be able to live with. So according to your birth certificate, you're Elwood Delaney.'_

Maria, with her palm underneath her chin & resting on her cheek, listened to his words intensely until he concluded.

Elwood slowly took off his hat & ran his hand through his chestnut colored hair. "When we heard our stories, we had a bigger motivation to change our names. Not only did we change our last names for our passion for music, but we changed them to leave behind our horrible past & to have new beginnings & a hopefully better future."

His guitarist girlfriend bit her lip even more and let the tears flow.

"Wow" she managed to say between sniffs. "I never knew how lucky I was to have been able to know & be loved by my parents."

"Well, you were." Jake replied "I would have done anything to have normal parents like yours, growing up especially since we never got adopted. Did you?"

She shook her lowered head sadly, and a tear ran down her cheek, still overwhelmed by their stories. "Nope. I never did. I always felt that no one would love me like my parents &…I was right."

She felt someone wipe away a tear from her cheek & looked up to see Elwood with a napkin.

"Believe me, we knew exactly how it felt."

She gave a sad smile to him and glanced at Jake. "I never knew anyone else whom I can talk to about this subject & I'm glad its you guys."

Elwood smiled sadly a bit "I guess we met for a good reason“

“Yeah” Maria replied quietly

Elwood and Maria remained silent as Elwood gave her a kiss on the hand, making Jake roll his eyes and turn away.

“Ok, I don't wanna here this lovey dovey shit so I think i’m gonna go."

Maira chucked a bit

_Well, he got over it quickly…_

As Jake left, Elwood & Maria remained at the bar as Elwood ordered himself a drink and Maria got herself a glass of water to sober up.

After a few moments of silence and sobering up, Maria turned to Elwood “Y’know, I’m pretty surprised Jake offered to buy me a drink. I was thinking he didn’t really like me that much.”

Elwood gave her a smirk “He can be a nice guy, especially when he sees injustice happening and I guess he felt bad about what happened to you.”

Maria gave him a smirk as well “I can dig that.”

She clinked her glass of water against Elwood’s beer bottle in a toast and the two musicians drank. After Maria drank her water, she turned to Elwood and playfully flung herself towards him, giving him a loving kiss. The bartender looked up at them and gave her an odd look as he turned away. Elwood was momentarily caught off guard by her sudden kiss, but gladly returned it.

Unbeknownst to them, Matt Murphy had returned to the bar.

_Did I leave the guitar pick here? Maybe it fell after we dragged that guy outside…_

He was about to look for his pick by the bar when he caught a glimpse of Elwood and Maria that made him fault his racks. Matt raised his eyebrows at the sight and awkwardly walked out of the bar.

_Is that why she got in the band?!! Should I confront them about it?! What about telling the band?!_


	14. Verbal Attack of the Penguin

The Curl up and Dye hair salon’s neon lights flashed as a mysterious blonde woman sat in front of her desk, overlooking the harsh rain outside as she waited patiently for her newly painted nails to dry. Since the hair solon was dead tonight, she had the whole place to herself to read and plan her plans ahead. As she casually glanced over her old black and white photos of her and her ex, she also occasionally glanced at the book she was reading about all kinds of weapons. She had heard rumors from the music community that her ex was released from prison early from good behavior and was seen hanging with a new woman, who was rumored to be an accomplished musician herself. She looked at the old pictures of her ex and crossed an X over his face while also writing "Die Jake Die".

_Wonder when his next gig will be...maybe I can try to get him after a show…and then go after her.._

* * *

Back at Maria's place, The Sticky Fingers album from The Rolling stones quietly played as background noise as Elwood was showing her the band’s set list and guitar tablature of the songs the band would usually perform. They had many of their classics that often captured the audience listed such as Soul Man, B Movie Boxcar Blues, Everybody Needs Somebody to love and so on. Sitting at the edge of her bed, Maria casually read over the list and occasionally practiced some of the songs on her guitar as she took a few puffs of her cigarette.

“If you have any questions about your guitar parts, you should ask Matt Murphy” Elwood advised “During band practice tomorrow, maybe you two can get together and he will teach you more of this stuff than I can.”

She played around with the strings of her guitar.

"Some of these songs I feel like I still need to practice on” she said to her boyfriend. "What I usually do, is listen to the song and just figure out to the best of my ability what the chords and notes are."

“So you can’t read tabs?”

“No, I just like learning by ear, y’know? That's how Hendrix and Jim Morrison learned.” She said as-a-matter-of-factly “They couldn't read music so they had to rely on their ears"

"I learned how to do that for the harp" Elwood commented "for singing, Curtis, me and Jake’s father figure, taught me how to find my voice. I knew mine would be different from jakes when I was growing up."

"How did you know?"

"One day, during playtime Jake tripped me while playing tag and he made me yell. My voice then dropped two octaves."

Maria let out a playful laugh, which made Elwood smile shyly. .

He scooted closer to her and wrapped an arm across her shoulder

"Y'know, your laugh is music to my ears"

Maria suddenly felt bashful as he lifted her hand to kiss it. She smiled slyly at him and playfully fiddled with his tie

"You're quite the charmer. Quite the opposite of your brother.”

"Jake ain't exactly the best at women, no matter how much he tried to convince you or himself."

"So how is it you know how to charm women and Jake doesn't?"

Elwood shrugged “I learned from Curtis, but to be honest, I haven't had that much luck with women. I only had a few short term girlfriends and Jake actually had a longtime girlfriend before he got locked up, but I don't know what happened with her."

Maria nodded her head in understanding "I actually had few boyfriends too. Nothing too serious, just casual dating. A lot of guys who would watch me perform always asked me out but very few of them actually caught my attention"

"So if that’s the case,“ Elwood began. "How come you said yes to me and gave me a chance?"

She grinned at him "Because I knew how much good you had in you  when you and Jake agreed to help save St Helens, even though you didn't exactly enjoy your stay there. That speaks volumes about you."

She then wrapped her arms around his neck and sat sideways on his lap

"Doesn't hurt that you're handsome as well" she added with a wink

He raised his eyebrows at the compliment and had a sudden confidence boost as he replied “Why thank you, beautiful.”

She giggled and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. He suddenly aimed for her lips and soon they found themselves locking lips like teenagers. Maria noticed Elwood’s breath had a light taste of cigarettes, but she rather enjoyed it, so she deepened the kiss and ran her fingers through his hair as his hat fell from his head. Elwood found himself aiming for the nape of Maria's neck, making Maria gasp in pleasure. She closed her eyes & sighed, wrapped in the bliss but at the same time, was amused

_I can feel his pulse race like crazy._

Maria felt one of Elwood’s hands trail under her shirt and slowly went up her back until…

RIIIIIINNNGGGG

"Did you hear that?" Maria asked, suddenly brought back to reality from her bliss

“Huh?”

 _'There's no blood going towards my ears, babe'_ Elwood thought to himself in a daze.

The phone continued to ring before Maria answered it, leaving Elwood slightly upset. He however continued to hold her in his arms.

"Hello?"

“ _Hello Maria_ "

She froze as she recognized the voice on the other line.

"Um…H-hi Sister Mary."

Upon hearing she was on the other line, Elwood quickly got away from the phone. He proceeded to fix his messy hair and loose tie as Maria continued to chat.

 _“I was calling to ask if you could come by the orphanage shortly. I had just received wonderful news that you might want to hear._ "

“Oh… umm…ok. I'll be on my way."

She hung up the phone & faced Elwood

"Sister Mary has some important news to tell me. By the sound of her voice, its good news at least."

“Did she ask about us?” Elwood asked with a hint of caution.

Maria shook her head, much to his relief.

“Good. I’ll drive you there."

* * *

Later, the duo made their way into the city & drove up in front of the run down orphanage.

"I don't think I should go in." Elwood told her as he eyed at the place, recalling how painful his last visit was, literally.

She chuckled as she understood his hesitation

"Ok. I'll be back then. It shouldn’t be that long anyway."

She got out of the car & went inside, leaving Elwood in his car. After she walked up the familiar creaky stairs to the office, she knocked quietly.

"Come in"

Maria opened the door & Sister Mary smiled at her as she walked in, until she spotted something that really caught her attention. She saw a bruise at the nape of Maria’s neck.

"Nice to see you again, my dear.”The Sister greeted with a hint of concern “Please have a seat."

Maria sat down on a little chair that was near the front of the desk.

"So what's the good news?" she asked eagerly.

“I had filed a request to extend our payment time for the taxes and it has been approved. Therefore you and the boys have 90 days to obtain that five thousand dollars."

_Why did she make Elwood drive that long distance for that? Couldn’t she have told me this over the phone?_

Even if that didn't make sense to her, Maria felt really relieved.

“Oh good!” she sighed “I’ll be sure to tell Jake and Elwood the good news! I think they’ll be as relieved as I am.”

The sister gave her a concerned look at the mention of the Blues Brothers and her eyes found their way to Maria’s bruise.

"Speaking of them, how are they? How are they treating you?“

"They're alright. We found a gig that will guarantee you the five grand!"

“That's nice Maria,” the sister replied sternly "but you still haven't answered the second question. How are they treating you?”

Maria began to get concerned with the hostile tone Sister Mary was giving her.

"Don't worry sister, they're treating me fine!” Maria replied with her hands out in front of her, trying to calm her down.

_What’s her problem?!_

The sister seemed calmer but their was still some slight hesitation in her voice.

"Alright.”

The nun turned around and began to fix and organize her books on the bookshelf.

“I just got worried about you, especiallybecause they can be bad seeds."

Maria felt a tad hurt from her comment. She remembered how they took her in the band, Jake offering to get rid of the guy who harassed her, and Elwood comforting her at the cemetery, she stood up from the chair.

"They're not bad seeds!” Maria argued, her anger slowly rising “Yes they seem rough around the edges, and I know they’ve served time in prison, but I know they have good souls. Maybe you don't know them like how I do!”

The sister found herself surprised at Maria’s aggression and defense as her eyes widened.

“Jake can be rough around the edges, but he treats me like a friend. As for Elwood…” Maria stopped and found herself smiling dreamily at the mention of his name.

“He's such a sweetheart!” she added with a sigh.

Sister Mary faced Maria, suspicious about her words.

"If I didn't know better, Miss Valens, I would be thinking that you have some sort of romantic feelings towards them; especially Elwood!"

_Shit…me and my big mouth_

“Them?!” Maria blurted out with a nervous stutteringlaugh “No Sister Mary, not Jake. He doesn’t like me like that anyway.”

The sister suddenly put two and two together as she glanced at the bruise on her neck. It definitely wasn’t a bruise from getting hurt. She angrily approached Maria.

“So what is that on your neck, then?”

Maria was confused, feeling her neck with her hand and trying to locate whatever the nun was talking about.

“What’s on my neck?”

Sister Mary took a hanging mirror from her wall and gave it to Maria for her to use. Maria used the mirror to try to locate whatever the Sister was talking about until her eyes grew. She discovered a dark hickey.

Without thinking, Maria cursed under her breath

“Shit..”

The Sister glowered at her, got out her trusty ruler, and hit her right on her shoulder.

“OWW! FUCK!”

Smack.

“Owww!”

“Just as I suspected” The Sister commented with disappointment in her voice “The boys have influenced you to follow in their footsteps!”

Maria glared at her heatedly. “No they didn’t!”

“Then why would you let yourself get that…that..mark on your neck?!”

“I didn’t realize I had it!” she argued “I swear!”

“And I thought I had asked you to steer them from trouble, not to get yourself into trouble with them!”

At that moment, the door suddenly burst open & Elwood entered the office, looking worried.

"Maria, you alright?”

He approached her and held her hand

“I heard you from the car!”

The sister glanced at Elwood, Maria, & back at Elwood again with her ruler pointed at him.

"You…"

Elwood turned his attention to her.

“What? What did I do?" he asked with a small nervous chuckle

"What did you do?" The sister growled sternly "You put your filthy-speaking lips on her! I assume you two were having intimate relations when you gave her this?”

She pointed to Maria’s hickey & Elwood bit his lip

_Shit…I forgot I made that…_

"Look sister, I didn't mean to…"

"Intimacy before marriage is a sin, you two!“

Maria’s eyes grew at the mention of the word.

“Intimacy?!” She exclaimed as she turned a dark red

"It was just a kiss!” Elwood argued back "Nothing more, nothing less!"

"Get out!" Sister Mary scolded at them as she waved her ruler at them.

Elwood ran down the stairs first with Maria right behind him, until she tripped on a step & fell forward, knocking Elwood forward and making both of them fall down the stairs. Maria landed right on her face as Elwood landed on his stomach. Sister Mary looked down at them from her office & shook her head in pity

"Maria, I'm very disappointed in you! I had confidence in you that you would change the thieves into good-hearted men, but instead you return to me rude & in the trap of Elwood's intimate behavior towards you. On top of that, you two are focusing on each other more than saving this place!”

Those precise words hit Maria hard.

“Get out” Sister Mary concluded “and don’t come back until you've redeemed yourselves."

She slammed her office door & the duo made their way out of the orphanage, still aching from the fall and trying to avoid the rain. Sister Mary’s words echoed in Maria’s mind.

_You two are focusing on each other more than saving this place!_

As the words repeated in Maria’s head, she found herself getting angrier and angrier. Elwood sensed her hostility as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Maria…”

She turned to him “How dare she…how FUCKING dare she say something like that!”

“WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!”

The duo jumped, startled at the Nuns sudden yelling and quickly got in the car and closed the doors behind them.

“How dare she say something like that!” Maria told Elwood as he tried drying his hair “We’re focusing more on each other than saving the orphanage?! Yeah, tell that to the rednecks we had to entertain! Tell that to the snot nosed kids we had to dress up for at Garden-land!! Hell, saving the orphanage is why I agreed to join the band!!”

“I know what she said was harsh, but she just doesn’t understand or know what we went through” Elwood replied calmly. “Besides, remember what you told me after the Garden-land gig? Forget the pettiness and focus on the goal”

Maria sighed and smiled sadly at him “I should start following my own advice, shouldn’t I?”

Elwood gave her a smirk and placed his arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer to him as he kept his other hand on the wheel.

“C’mon. Let’s go for a drive.”

“Okay”

Elwood started the car and began to drive away from the orphanage. The couple remained silent as they enjoyed the soothing, quiet cruise with only the sound of the engine and the streets. As Elwood continued to drive around, Maria’s mind wondered to what had happened at the orphanage.

_Well…since one person found out about us…it won’t be long until everyone else finds out too_

“Elwood?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you think we should eventually tell the band about us?”

Elwood remained silent, unsure of how to answer her.

“I mean,” she continued “since Sister Mary already found out, we might as well just tell the band. I don’t think we can hide from them forever.”

“I think…maybe we should tell them after the Vegas gig.” he replied

“You think so?”

He nodded his head, still keeping his focus on the road in front of him.

“I don’t want to tell them this and then have some of them walk out. We need everyone for this gig.”

“Would they really walk out?”

“Mr. Fabulous would, probably.” he replied with a small chuckle.

Maria rolled her eyes “Good point.”

Her eyes wandered absentmindedly out the car window and suddenly she noticed from across the street that there was a brand new record store. She excitedly tapped Elwood on the shoulder.

“Hey, let’s go check that place out! I think that used to be that old dollar store!”

Elwood noticed the building and drove the car around to try to look for a place to park. Once they found themselves parked, they approached the inside of the store. The tremendous store had it’s many aisles overflowed with countless amounts of Vinyl albums. Maria run through the store, excitedly looking around for the newest sales and the newest albums. Elwood crossed his arms and watched her with a smirk as he was pleasantly occupied by her excitement. It was like watching a kid in a candy store. Maria turned to Elwood and playfully pulled on his sleeve.

“C’mon! Let’s look for new albums together!”

Elwood followed her as the two musicians began to look through the aisles together. They found themselves scanning through the aisles for about an hour and a half and found themselves with armfuls of albums.

“I don’t think this is such a good idea” Maria snickered to Elwood, struggling to carry her collection “But I can’t refuse these deals!”

“I can’t argue with great music at a decent price” Elwood replied with a small smile.

“Here!”

She grabbed Elwood’s stack of albums from him and placed them on top of her stack.

“This is on me.”

Elwood suddenly felt puzzled “What?”

“Yeah, this is my treat!”

She kissed him on the cheek and approached the check out counter. Elwood watched her, still bewildered by her generosity.

_I never had a girl buy me albums before…_

He found himself feeling happier than before and began to aimlessly browse the sales section again as he waited for her. He continued to scan the vinyls until he came across one that really caught his attention. It was a worn out brightly colored Doo-wop album with four well dressed men smiling on the cover. The title of the album being “Johnny Valens and the Stars Sing their Greatest Hits”

_Isn’t this Maria’s dad’s band?!!_

Elwood continued to study the cover as he noticed the groups leader sharing the same smile he often saw Maria give to him. Elwood looked around suspiciously before tucking the album into his suit.

_I bet she would love this_

“Alright, Elwood! I’m ready!” Maria called to Elwood as she approached him with two big bags in her hands.

Elwood followed her out of the store and towards his car as he tried to securely keep the album from her sight. He sat in the drivers seat and Maria gave him one of the bags.

“Here you go”

He took the bag from her and gave her a smile and a gentle kiss in thanks before driving back home.


	15. Bringing Out the Big Guns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a Jake and Maria chapter. I'd figure if I have her dating one Blues Brother, I gotta have her have some sort of relationship with Jakey...whether it's good or bad.
> 
> Plus, this is my answer to a few comments I got in the past about people who say they rather see Jake and Maria together.
> 
> All I gotta say is this: "Clash of Egos"

On the other side of town, Jake casually strolled around the familiar run-down graffitied neighborhood he and Elwood had lived at before he was locked up.

_I hope we can at least find a few gigs we can do to pass by time and earn dough for some food._

If his memory served him right, a lot of the local bars and pubs still hired local musicians to perform at their venues. He took out a lighter from his pocket to light up a cigarette and felt relaxed as he put his hands in his pockets and felt the nicotine’s calming effects. As he controlled to stroll around the block, he noticed the buildings were still run down, the same people were still hanging around, even the same street animals still hung around the area.

_I’m pretty surprised how little has changed here…maybe this means Mickey’s will still have their weekend amateur nights.._

As Jake was about to pass by a yet another shitty run down bar, he saw a sign on the window that caught his attention.

 

“DUET KAREOKE COMPETITION:

GRAND PRIZE 1,000 DOLLARS

SIGN UP IN BAR FROM 12-4PM”

 

Jake’s mind ran as he read the flyer, warming up to the idea of signing up.

_Hmmm…we do need that extra cash maybe for the Vegas gig…plus I can’t pass up a gig!_

Jake made his way inside and felt defeated once he saw a sign that read:

“Duet competition: for couples only”

_Shit…I can’t write in Elwood…_

Jake let out an impatient sigh, before making his way out the door until he halted in his tracks. As he watched a couple pass by him to approach the sign up booth, he hatched another idea.

_Maybe…Maria can…_

His mind began to wonder at the idea as he remembered her performance at the bar the night they met.

_I mean…she_ **_can_ ** _put on a show…maybe with me singing and her dancing, that will win over the judges. They don’t know we aren’t actually together…_

Jake turned around and made his way to the sign up booth. The young man sitting behind it greeted the older Blues Brother with a smile.

“Hello sir” he greeted happily “You interested in signing up?”

“Yes I am” Jake replied smugly

“Great!”

The young patron began taking out some paperwork and a pen

“And may I ask who to make this reservation out to?”

“Jake Blues and Maria Valens.”

* * *

A while later, After dropping Maria off at her apartment, Elwood returned to his room where he found himself alone.

_'Guess Jake wanted to hang with the band for a bit…_

He sat on the edge of his bed and began to take off his suit jacket and his hat. He noticed the bag of albums laying beside him and began to take them out. As he scanned through the familiar faces of the blues, he came across a sticky note on top of one of the albums. In sleek handwriting it read:

 

_"It's the least I can do for accepting me into the band and into your life as your girlfriend_

 

_\- Maria_

 

_Xoxoxoxo”_

 

On the bottom of the note, she left a dark red kiss mark. Elwood let out a small sigh upon reading the sticky note as his mind began to wonder about the woman who bought him those albums.

_I didn’t even have to ask her to do that for me, she did that on her own, just like how she gave us a room to stay in._

His dreamlike thoughts were suddenly interrupted when the door began to unlock and in stepped Jake. Jake noticed his brother on the bed and nodded his head to him.

"Hey, get ready. I arranged to have an open mic performance later tonight for a little extra cash to spend in Vegas."

Elwood nodded his head in acknowledgment and went back to looking through the albums. Jake noticed the scattered vinyls on the bed and pointed to them.

“You went shopping today?“

"Maria bought them for me as a gift."

Jake raised a single eyebrow.

"Shouldn't you be the one to give her gifts?"

“I will. That's why I found this."

Elwood took out the vinyl he discovered from earlier that day from his coat pocket

"It's a vinyl of Maria's dads doo wop band."

Jake took the album from Elwood and examined the cover from front to back.

“I know you mean well, but are you sure she will like it? Would it make her sad, seeing that her dad is well…y’know..."

Elwood's heart sank as he felt spirits were let down over the possibility of truth behind Jake’s words.

"I don't know! I wouldn't want to give her something that would make her sad! Especially after what she did for me. I just thought she would want something from her dad.“

Jake began to rummage through the albums and nodded his head in approval for every single one he came across.

"She's very nice to do this for ya. I'll give her props for that."

Elwood focused his attention to the kiss-marked sticky note, feeling his heart race a tad bit faster as he grazed his thumb over her kiss mark.

"No other girl has done something like this for me, Jake. It's weird."

"At least she isn't playing games, like she pretends to onstage.” Jake replied "She genuinely likes you. I don't get what she sees in you, but at least she likes you."

Elwood smiled and developed a deep blush on his cheeks, making Jake realize what he had done earlier that day.

_Shit, here I am pretending Maria and I are a couple for this damn gig and Elwood starts getting all lovey dovey over her…_

“Shit…” Jake cursed

Elwood shot him a puzzled look “What's the matter?”

Jake began to look nervous as he looked away from Elwood and glanced around the room.

“Well uh…you know how i said i signed up for an open mic gig to earn extra money?”

“Yeah?”

Jake looked at the floor, cautiously waiting for Elwood’s reaction “Well, it’s for a couples duet…and…I signed me and Maria up.”

“WHAT?!”

Jake raised his eyebrows and held his hands up “Listen…it’s not what you think! It’s all part of a plan I concocted for us to win this thing.”

Elwood locked his jaw and crossed his arms “Really?”

* * *

_I went down to the crossroads, fell down on my knees._

_Down to the crossroads, fell down on my knees._

_Asked the Lord above for mercy, "Save me if you please."_

The fast paced boogie-like riff of Eric Clapton and drum beats of Ginger Baker blasted through Maria’s record player as she played along on her guitar, cigarette still in her mouth

_I went down to the crossroads, tried to flag a ride._

_Down to the crossroads, tried to flag a ride._

_Nobody seemed to know me, everybody passed me by._

_Well I'm going down to Rosedale, take my rider by my side…_

One of her guitar strings suddenly snapped, making her curse in frustration.

“Fuck..”

She set down the guitar next to her newly bought vinyls and tossed the cigarette onto her ashtray. The song continued to play as she was going to retrieve her collection of guitar strings from her nightstand.

_Going down to Rosedale, take my rider by my side._

_Going down to Rosedale, take my rider by my side._

_You can still barrelhouse, baby, on the riverside._

 

_Knock knock knock…_

Upon hearing the knocks on her door, her frustrations ceased as she smiled and prepared herself to see the man who usually knocks on the door. After the turned down the music, and before she even gave a second thought, she opened the door with a grin.

“And what can I do for you, handsome?"

She suddenly widened her eyes and blushed when she saw Jake at the door with an angry looking Elwood behind him. Jake raised an eyebrow at her and gave her a smirk

"Well, i gotta say I'm flattered. Wouldn't advice saying that to me in front of my brother, though."

Maria rolled her eyes "What do you want, Jake?"

She noticed Elwood looking upset and felt puzzled as she stepped aside to let both brothers into her room.

Jake, upon hearing the song, instantly recognized it.

“Not a bad cover, but Robert Johnson will always be better”

Maria sat on her bed as she began to fix the string “Ok so what do you want?”

"I got ourselves a spot for an open mic night gig down at that place nearby the movie theater.” Jake replied “Thought we could make a bit of extra dough before our Vegas trip

She nodded her head "Great, I need that extra dough. I spent the last of what I had on a special gift.”

Elwood turned to her, genuinely surprised as she smiled sweetly at him.

_So…she spent the last of her money on me?_

Maria turned back to Jake “How much we getting paid?"

Jake shrugged his shoulders "Actually I don't know if we'll actually get the money.."

“What do you mean?"

"It's gonna be a contest. The best duet is going to win about 1000 dollars. That's why I said I don't even know if we will actually get the money."

"Is it gonna be you and Elwood?"

Elwood adjusted in his seat and crossed his arms, still not saying a word.Jake shook his head.

"No…I…uh…it’s a couple's duet so…I planned it for me and you."

Maria got even more perplexed with a hint of anger “Why in the hell did you sign me up for this?! And with you?!! Why didn't you just sign me and Elwood up together?!"

Elwood looked up at her then at Jake “Yeah…that’s a good question!”

Jake scowled at her, clearly getting frustrated "Because you're supposed to lay low on your relationship, remember?!"

Maria rolled her eyes again "Well it's too late for Sister Mary..“

Jake was now the surprised one "How the hell did she find out?"

Maria sighed and moved her wavy locks  out of the way to show Jake the bruise on her neck.

"This. I visited her today and she pretty much put two and two together once she saw Elwood and I.“

Jake gave a small snicker upon seeing the bruise and nudged Elwood on the shoulder

”Hey man, great job!”

Maria gave him a disapproving look as she crossed her arms.

“So if you want Elwood and I to lay low, why the hell did you sign the both of us up instead?”

“Because you’re the only chick I know who can sing along with me with this couple's duet thing and I feel like we can both win this thing. Our vocals with our stage presence will blow people out of the water! Besides, just because it’s a couple's duet doesn’t mean we have to sing a love song.”

Maria and Elwood glanced at each other, realizing he had a point. Both musicians began to feel better about the situation as they relaxed.

“Good!” Maria exclaimed after a few moments of silence “I’m not being your Tammi to your Marvin!”

“And I doubt the patrons of the bar know we’re actually not together…so I don’t see any big problem here…”

Maria and Elwood glanced at each other again, unsure of what to think. Elwood shrugged his shoulders.

“C’mon, Maria…” Jake began “I'll give you your hand of the winnings if we win this thing…which we will because we are both fucking amazing”

Maria gave him a small snicker, making Jake feel better.

“Alright…I’lll do it”

She shook hands with him, calling it a truce.

“You better not do this again, asshole…”

* * *

Later on that night, The brothers and Maria pulled up next to Mickey’s Irish Pub which they found was super crowded with drunken patrons. Maria was wide eyed once she noticed the venue.

“Shit…”

The brothers glanced at her

“What?” Jake asked

“My old band and I used to play here all the time. The owner knows me…”

“Well uh, then…maybe that can mean we can get gigs here easier.” Jake replied, trying to make light of the situation

_C’mon Maria, don’t bail on me right now…we need that money!_

She let out a huff of irritation and stretched her neck in preparation of going inside

“Fine. Let’s just get this over with.”

“You guys go head” Elwood said to his brother and girlfriend “I’ll go park and see ya inside”

Jake and Maria got out of the Bluesmobile before Elwood drove off to look for a parking meter. Jake and Maria let out a sigh before Jake offered her his arm for her to take.

“May I? Lover?”

Maria gave him a sneer and reluctantly took his arm “Shut the fuck up”

Jake snickered to himself and the singers made their way inside. Once the door opened, a few of the patrons noticed the two singers making their way to the booth where Jake signed in. Maria out of earshot heard some of the whispers and saw some of the glances aimed at them.

_‘Isn’t that Joliet Jake from the Blues Brothers?”_

_“Wow I didn’t know he was out!”_

_‘Maria Valens? I thought she was with Instant Karma?”_

_‘Are they dating?”_

_What’s a chick like her doing with a guy like him?_

_Well…_ Maria thought irritably _This might be an interesting night…_

* * *

The night went on as Elwood had patiently waited at the bar across the stage for his brother and girlfriend to make their appearances onstage. The performances of the couples before them were alright, but they weren’t anything special in his eyes or worth remembering. After he got himself a pint of Guinness, he sneakily got out a piece of white toast from his coat pocket and quietly ate it before the Emcee made his way onstage.

“Alright, up next we got ourselves the last remaining couple before the judges decide which two couples make it to the final two! Please give it up for Jake Blues and Maria Valens!”

Elwood’s attention was caught as he hurriedly finished his toast and saw his brother and girlfriend approach the stage. They each grabbed the microphones and danced as the music from a familiar Wilson Pickett song blared from the speakers, making some of the patrons cheer drunkenly.

Jake began with the vocals first as Maria instructed the audience to clap along to the rhythm.:

_If you need a little lovin'_

_Call on me. Alright!_

_If you want a little huggin'_

_Call on me baby...mmhmm_

_Oh I'll be right here at home._

_All you gotta do is pick up the telephone and dial now_

Maria wailed into the mic in her signature raspy voice, much to Elwood’s enjoyment

_6-3-4-5-7-8-9!_

Jake pointed to her, instructing her to sing again

_What's my number?!_

_6-3-4-5-7-8-9!_

It was now Maria’s turn to sing the second verse as she strutted around the stage

_And if you need a little huggin'_

_Call on me…that's all you gotta do now!_

She glanced at Elwood watching her and winked at him as she sang

_And if you want some kissin'_

_Call on me baby....all right!_

Elwood caught her little nod to him and turned a light shade of pink.

_No more lonely nights, when you'll be alone._

_All you gotta do is pick up your telephone and dial now..._

Jake sang the chorus now

_6-3-4-5-7-8-9_

_that's my number!_

_6-3-4-5-7-8-9_

The two musicians shared a mic as they both sang the bridge

_Oh. I'll be right there._

_Just as soon as I can. Oh._

_And if I'll be a little bit late now,_

_I hope that you'll under…STAAAAAAAND!_

The patrons cheered even louder at the musicians high notes

_Whoa-yah...allright!_

Jake and Maria glanced at each other happily over their cheering audience, as if saying “This is going great!”

They continued to sing and dance:

_And if you need a little lovin'_

_Call on me....Lord have mercy_

_And if you want some kissin'_

_Call on me baby....that's all you got to do now..._

_No more lonely nights, when you'll be alone._

_All you gotta do is pick up your telephone and dial now..._

Maria continued to shimmy and sing the number, with Jake yet again providing the rest of the vocals as he pointed to her

_6-3-4-5-7-8-9!_

_That's my number!_

_6-3-4-5-7-8-9_

_Ohhhhhhhh yeahhhhhhhh!_

Jake took Maria’s hand and gently twirled her around to the rhythm

_6-3-4-5-7-8-9_

_Call me on the telephone!_

_6-3-4-5-7-8-9!_

_No more would you have to be alone!_

_6-3-4-5-7-8-9!_

Jake and Maria shared the mic for the final time

_6-3-4-5-7-8-9!_

At the ending note, they raised their fists in the air in triumph as the bar patrons applauded and cheered for the musicians. Elwood stood up from his barstool and gave a standing ovation, feeling incredibly proud of his brother and girlfriend.

_They actually can perform really well together._

Jake and Maria glanced at each other proudly and shook each others hands.

“Not bad, Valens.” He said over the cheers “Now you definitely have my permission to date my brother”

She playfully bumped her shoulder into his on her way backstage to await the judges final decisions.

“With or without it, I’m going to be doing that anyway” Maria replied cheekily

* * *

A few moments after the guitarist and Blues brother left the stage, one of the judges make her way onstage, catching the attention of Jake.

“Man, she’s cute…” Jake said to Maria “Hope she saw how I was dancing out there, then we would win for sure.”

Maria gave a snort of laughter “So…fuck our singing abilities. We win because some chick thought you were sexy.”

She shrugged her shoulders “Well…I’m not a stranger to that scenario…”

The judge spoke.

“Alright! First of all I want to give a big thanks to everyone who came out here and really brought the house down tonight!”

The bar patrons cheered and Elwood continued to give an applause, obviously not one to give loud cheers.

“But now I’m here to present the final two couples who will be advancing towards the ultimate goal of 1,000 dollars!”

Jake and Maria held their breath as the judge read the finalists

“Stevie and Amanda Moore….and…Jake Blues and Maria Valens”

Elwood grinned at the news and Jake and Maria raised their fists in triumph.

“Alright you four, get ready for your final numbers as we take a break.”

The losing couples went out the door as Elwood made his way backstage to meet Jake and Maria, who suddenly got very serious.

“Hey, you two!”

Jake and Maria saw Elwood approach them and grinned.

“You two were great. I’m surprised this worked out”

“Trust me, me too” Maria half-joked

“We need to go big or go home if we want that thousand dollars” Jake told her “So I say we bring out the big guns”

“What are the big guns?” Maria wondered

Jake pointed to her waist “Those hips.”

Elwood shot a look at him as Maria looked confused

“Jake, she isn’t some object you can just demand to dance onstage” Elwood said with a scowl

Maria shrugged her shoulders “Wouldn’t be the first time I sang and danced onstage for money”

The Brothers raised their eyebrows and turned to her. She caught the guys’ surprised looks and laughed.

“I used to be a Cabaret dancer. How do you think I learned how to dance and sing at the same time onstage?”

“Is that the same thing as stripping?” Jake asked with a hopeful smile

Elwood nudged him in the ribs, making Maria laugh.

“No, you pervert. Don’t get your hopes up.”

“I was hoping you could introduce me to some of your stripper friends!”

“I wasn’t a stripper!”

The judge from earlier approached the musicians

“Alright, you have 5 minutes! Be ready!”

Elwood gave them a thumbs up before making his way to his seat.

“Break a leg, you two. I believe in you.”

Jake and Maria got serious again as they turned to each other

“So…” Jake began “I say we do ‘Down in Mexico’ from The Coasters so we can put those hips to good use.”

Maria snickered “That sounds wrong”

“What?” Jake asked innocently “I bet you already put those hips to good use with my brother already.”

Maria felt her body tense up in anger as she scowled at him “No I haven’t, if you must know!”

Jake raised his eyebrows, surprised by her sudden abrasiveness “Calm down, man. It’s just a joke.”

“Well it’s not funny” she snipped

Jake gave her a suspicious look before shaking it off once he saw the other winning couple approach the stage. Their music began and the musicians recognized the song as “Ain’t no Mountain High Enough” from Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. The chemistry between them was really great, as it genuinely looked like they were in love and enjoying themselves onstage.

“Damn” Jake cursed “They’re good.”

“Yeah, but remember we’re gonna bring out the big guns” Maria said with a smug smile

The song was soon over as the couple kissed and made their way backstage as Jake and Maria prepared themselves.

From the bar, Elwood began to wonder what they had up their sleeves.

_That Marvin and Tammi cover was good, but they really need to impress the judges if they wanna win that money_

Jake and Maria made their way onstage, with their backs facing the audience. The music began blaring from the speakers and they moved their bodies to the slow groove of the song, with them slowly moving their hips.

_Bawwwwwwwmmmm…_

With that first note, Elwood instantly recognized the song.

_Bawwwwwwwmmmm…_

_Bawwwwwwwmmmm…_

The musicians slowly turned to face the audience as they sang and some cheers erupted from the audience

_Ahhhhhhh….ahhhhhh_

_ahhhhhhh….ahhhhh_

They both swayed their bodies, with Maria putting more emphasis on slow hip shaking (much to Elwood’s liking) and Jake grooving his shoulders. Jake began singing as Maria provided the backing vocals

_Down in the Mexicali_

_(Bop shoo-wop. Shoo-wop. Ahhhhhhh)_

_There's a crazy little place that I know_

_(Bop shoo-wop. Shoo-wop. Ahhhhhhh)_

_Where the drinks are hotter than the chili sauce_

_And the boss is a cat named Joe_

Jake and Maria sang in harmony on separate mics, but with the same tango-influenced dance moves.

_He wears a red bandana, plays a blues pi-anna_

_In a honky-tonk, down in Mexico_

_He wears a purple sash, and a black moustache_

_In a honky-tonk, down in Mexico_

Now it was Maria’s turn as she scrunched her hair with a hand, trying to look as seductive as possible while still dancing. The men at the bar wolf whistled and howled at the sight of her, making Elwood annoyed by them, but still transfixed on his girlfriends performance.

_Well, the first time that I saw him_

_He was sittin' on a piano stool_

_I said "a-tell me dad, when does the fun begin?"_

_He just winked his eye and said "man, be cool"_

She winked to the audience before strutting her way down the stage’s catwalk, carrying the mic stand with her

_He wears a red bandana, plays a blues p-ianna_

_In a honky-tonk, down in Mexico_

_He wears a purple sash, and a black moustache_

_In a honky-tonk, down in Mexico,_

_in Mexico_

The tempo of the song suddenly sped up to a Latin influenced drum beat, making Maria swivel her hips even faster to the rhythm with her hands raised upwards.

_All of a sudden in walks this chick (in Mexico)_

_Joe starts playing on a Latin kick (in Mexico)_

_Around her waist she wore three fishnets (in Mexico)_

Elwood now definitely couldn’t take his eyes away from her dancing. He felt his pulse speed up and his face turn red, much like the night he first saw her perform, but this time was different. He noticed how limber and flexible her body was in ways he had never noticed before.

_She looks so exotic…it’s pretty sexy…_

He swallowed nervously and adjusted his tie as they continued to sing.

_She started dancin' with the castanets (in Mexico)_

_I didn't know just what to expect (in Mexico)_

_She threw her arms around my neck (in Mexico)_

_We started dancin' all around the floor (in Mexico)_

_And then she did a dance I never saw before._

At those precise lyrics, Maria dropped to her knees and bent her torso all the way backwards, showing how flexible she truly was. Elwood felt his jaw drop as he froze in place and felt is bottle of beer slipped from his hand. Maria meanwhile grabbed her microphone and sang the verse as she slowly got up from the stage floor.

_So if you're south of the border_

_I mean down in a-Mexico_

_And you want to get straight, man_

_Don't hesitate_

_Just look up a cat named Joe_

She strutted back to Jake where they sang together.

_He wears a red bandana, plays a blues pi-anna_

_In a honky-tonk, down in Mexico_

_He wears a purple sash, and a black moustache_

_In a honky-tonk, down in Mexico_

 

_Ahhhhhhhhhhhh….ahhhhhh_

_ahhhhhhhhhhhhh ahhhhhh_

_ahhhhhhhhhhh ahhhhh_

 

As the music faded out, the bar exploded with patrons’ cheers, wolf whistles, and howls, much to the pride of Jake and Maria.

“Well Jake” Maria began with a sly smile “I think It’s pretty clear who just won this thing”

“And It’s all thanks to us bringing out the big guns.”

She playfully bumped her hips against his before strutting backstage.

* * *

The Blues Brothers and Maria drove away from the bar, feeling excited over their newly won prize money.

“I gotta admit Jake” Elwood began as he drove around “I was skeptical about your plan, but it looked like it worked. Even though you were pretty much exploiting my girlfriend” he added with a hint of annoyance.

“Hey it’s not exploitation if Maria willingly agreed to it,” Jake defended “Huh, Maria?!”

“I guess” she replied from the backseat, not paying attention as she counted her winning prize money.

“Thank you”

“And thank youuuuu Cabaret Paradis for taking me under your wing and showing me your ways!” Maria exclaimed as she kissed her money in happiness and laid down across the backseat.

“Speaking of which…”

Jake turned around to face Maria

“Can your stripper friends dance like you? If so, can you introduce me to them?”

“I told you, they’re not strippers!”

“What’s the difference?!”

“We never took our clothes off or got naked onstage.”

Elwood felt himself heat up as he adjusted himself in his seat, while Jake seemed disappointed and turned back to his seat.

“Goddammit. Nevermind, then.”

Maria chuckled as she put her prize money in her purse, feeling proud over her accomplishments of the night.

_Let's_ _hope the Vegas gig will be as successful as this one._

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, you had no idea how much work and fun I put into this chapter.
> 
> I gotta thank Quentin Tarantino for the influence for this chapter, although I don't really see Maria giving lap dances to that song. Haha!
> 
> Reviews and Constructive criticism is always welcomed here. I love writing this story and I wanna be the absolute best writer I can, so if you could please give me a critique of the story, no matter how honest, I would welcome it.


	16. Golden Slumbers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted this to be out by Valentine's Day, so i'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.
> 
> Also, I advise you to go buy a pack of cigarettes, because you're gonna want to smoke some after you read this chapter. (Wiggles eyebrows)
> 
> This chapter was highly influenced by a certain scene in Ghostbusters and I think you'll figure out which one it is ;)

The Brothers had already dropped her off at her apartment and made their way back to their place as Maria turned on the hot water in her bathtub and filled the tub with some bubble soap. After a tiring day of dealing with Sister Mary, having a field trip at the record store and performing an unexpected gig with Jake, she just needed some peace and relaxation on her own. As the tub continued to fill up, she turned on the radio, removed her clothes and let the hot water slowly blanket her whole body as she stepped into the tub. She let out a sigh of satisfaction and sunk into the steaming water.

_I think i need to take this a step further…_

She got herself a joint from her jacket pocket and lit it up before taking a huge puff. The calming effects of the drug slowly spread throughout her body, making the additional satisfaction of the water feel extra good as Grace Slick and the rest of Jefferson Airplane performing “White Rabbit” blared through her radio. As she closed her eyes and nodded her head to the beat of the music, her mind began to drift towards the performance from earlier that night.

_Jake was pretty great tonight. I hope he’ll be even better in Vegas._

She took a deep drag of her joint and exhaled the smoke.

_Hell, I hope I’m better too…even though I didn’t do bad tonight…everyone seemed to like it, especially Elwood_

Her thoughts were paused at the sudden internal mention of her boyfriend. She smiled coyly as she remembered catching a glimpse of his astonishment watching her dance.

_It’s one thing being flirty onstage for a bunch of guys I don’t even know and will never see again…but…for Elwood it’s just…_

The thought of showing off and exciting such a handsome and sweet-talking man like him made her heart beat against her chest in excitement.

_There’s something …oddly liberating and… sexy about being a total tease towards him…_

Maria’s heartbeat accelerated even faster at the thought. She found herself having a certain wanting that she hadn’t felt for anyone before.She let out a dreamlike sigh at the thought as she slowly sunk underneath the steaming water.

* * *

As Maria was enjoying her bath, the music of Lightnin’ Hopkins played from Elwood’s record player as the brothers were getting ready to go to bed. The lights were dimly lit  as Jake was drinking a beer in his undershirt and boxers while reading the newspaper in bed. A beam of light was emitting into the already darkish room as his younger brother was getting ready to shave his stubble in the bathroom.

“So uh…our first band practice is tomorrow” Jake called out to his brother

“Yeah? So?”

“Has your chick been practicing the setlist?”

“Yeah, we were actually practicing together earlier today. I told her that if she had any questions she should talk to Matt Murphy.”

Jake looked up to the open bathroom door from the paper and gave his brother a smug smile.

“Was that before or after you gave her that hickey?”

Elwood was caught off guard by the comment and accidentally nicked himself on the chin, making him silently curse and put a small torn piece of toilet paper on the cut.

“Well?” Jake asked coyly

The younger brother scowled and continued to shave

“Shut up, Jake”

“Hey, I’m just saying! It looks like you two are pretty serious about this whole relationship thing”

Elwood paused his shaving and briefly reflected on what Jake said.

_“_ Yeah…I guess we are…I mean…we’re just going with the flow, for now. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Jake gave him a skeptical look as he raised an eyebrow

“That hickey and her buying your albums sounds like a little more than just going with the flow.”

Elwood shrugged his shoulders “Maria hasn’t given me any signals that she wants to go further, so I don’t mention it to her. I think I got too carried away with that hickey, though.”

Jake snickered “Hey, at least you went with your feelings and she didn’t object to it while it was happening.”

Elwood shrugged his shoulders, recognizing Jake’s point. He washed away the residue of the shaving cream on his face before changing to his nightclothes and making his way to his bed. Jake gave a yawn as he put down his newspaper and beer and got under the covers.

“By the way, loverboy.”

Elwood turned to him and noticed Jake had a smug look on his face again.

“I’ve seen the way she looks at you onstage. I think that counts as a signal that she wants to go further…think about it.”

The younger Blues brother turned a deep shade of red as Jake turned over on his side and fell asleep. Elwood laid down on the bed and stared at the ceiling as his mind began to speculate about what Jake said.

_But…she’s always like that when she’s onstage…that’s her persona._

He turned on his side and argued with himself.

_But even onstage she doesn’t flirt or make eye contact with other guys…what if Jake’s right?_

Elwood let out a frustrated sigh and sunk his head into his pillow as he continued to speculate on the whole situation until he found himself drowsy and soon fell asleep.

* * *

 

* * *

Deep into of his slumber, Elwood awoke to a familiar sultry voice calling out to him.

"Elwood...Elwood...loverboy...wake up"

He stirred and slowly began to wake up. As his eyes began to get adjusted, he saw a blurred distortion of Maria in front of his bed. Once his eyes were more focused, he noticed Maria was wearing fishnet stockings and a dark purple silk robe that hugged her hourglass figure and exposed her shoulders. Her dark brown eyes glinted with pure lust and teasing while leaning against a dresser, arms crossed and with a cigarette in her mouth.

"…M…Maria!” Elwood stammered, trying to prevent himself from checking her out as he sat up from the bed.

Maria blew smoke from her cigarette and let out a low, coy chuckle "You like my outfit?"

Finding himself tongue tied, he could only give a nod to her.

"Good" she replied with a wink. “Then you'll definitely love the surprise I have in store for you"

With a sensual lick and bite of her bottom lip, Maria undid the robe and let it drop to the ground, making Elwood’s eyes behind his shades widen and his heart thump against his ribcage. She wore a black and purple whalebone corset that enhanced her cup size and curves with purple lace and a matching pair of frilly panties. She had a smug smile as she noticed how flabbergasted he was and tossed the cigarette before she began to make her way towards the bed.

"I just wanted to give my absolute thanks to you and your brother for letting me into the band, but since I'm not into Jake…”

She then began to crawl on the bed on all fours and leaned forward to Elwood, exposing her C cup cleavage right in front of him.

"I'll give my thanks to you instead"

Elwood was breathless as he could hear his heartbeat in his ears while trying his damnedest to not his gaze slip at the pair of breasts in front of him.

_She looks so damn good…but I can’t take advantage of her…_

Not only did she look good, she smelled good too as he could smell the cigarette she smoked and a hint of lavender scented body wash coming from her. He soon found his voice, raised three octaves higher than usual.

“Well uh…it’s..r-really no problem at all. I-I…just wanted…i mean…I knew how much you…um…wanted to help...”

Maria rolled her eyes and huffed impatiently.

“Just kiss me!”

Maria yanked on Elwood's tie, pulling him forward towards her lips as she deviously kissed him. Elwood felt empty headed as he could feel the blood drain from his face to another area of his body.

_No, no, no, no!_

He thought to himself, trying to save himself the embarrassment as he unsuccessfully tried to cross his legs.

_This can’t happen to me! Not now!_

Maria suddenly hovered over him and gently pinned him to the bed with their lips still locked, asserting her dominance, but still did it in a way so he could easily dominate her if he wanted to. Elwood surrendered to his amorous feelings as they found their bodies moving at their own accord with Maria rocking her hips against his and his hands roaming all around her body. She sighed with satisfaction in his mouth at his touch and sat on his lap with open legs, making Elwood hiss in pain.

_Owww she's bending it..._

Maria parted the kiss and gave a chuckle as she felt what made him in pain between her legs.

"You'll definitely be more excited after this.."

She got up from his lap and made her way towards his record player on the other side of the room, leaving her aroused boyfriend to wonder what she was going to do next. On Elwood's record player she put on an album from Janis Joplin’s band "Big Brother and the Holding Company" The sexy groovy guitar intro played as Elwood saw Maria sway and swivel her hips slowly to the rhythm of the song. Maria sang along to the song as she continued her own private dance for him

_Whoa, I need a man to love me._

_Don't you understand me, baby ?_

_Why, I need a man to love…_

Her dance got more erotic once the chorus played, with Elwood still frozen in place, unable to think, and not taking his eyes off of her.

_I gotta find him, I gotta have him like the air I breathe._

_One lovin' man to understand can't be too much to need._

_You know it_

 

_Can't be now_

_Oh no_

_Can't be now_

_Oh no_

_Can't be now_

_Oh no_

_Can't be now_

_Oh no_

_Can't be now_

_Oh no_

_Can't be this loneliness_

_Baby, surrounding me._

 

_No, no, know it just can't be_

_No it just can't be_

She continued to dance for him and got on all fours as she crawled to him on the bed. Maria got closer to Elwood like before as she loosened his tie and began to unbutton his white shirt.

_"Whaaaaohh won’t you let me hold you…honey just close your eyes”_

Maria pulled on his tie once more and brought his lips so close to hers.

_“Whoa ohhh ohhhh, won't you let me hold you, dearrrrr?”_

Her hot breath was almost too much to handle as Elwood felt weak with an intense need to give himself to her. Maria suddenly pushed Elwood onto his pillow and sat on his lap again, as Maria felt the excitement between Elwood's legs. He let his hands absentmindedly roam all over her curves.

_I want to just put my arms around ya, like the circles going 'round the sun._

_Let me hold you daddy, at least until the morning comes._

_Because it_

Her hand roamed Elwood’s chest while singing with every grind she made. His head tilted backwards as he found himself getting breathless and turned on, feeling overwhelmed by how amazing her grinding felt.

 

_Can't be now_

_(Oh no)_

_Can't be now_

_(Oh no)_

_Can't be now_

_(Oh no)_

_Can't be now_

_(Oh no)_

_Can't be now_

_(Oh no)_

_Can't be this loneliness_

_Baby, surrounding me._

Elwood was lightheaded as he tried to lift his head and aim for another kiss. Maria planted her finger on his lips to stop him, so he had his hands roam around her body again, only to be stopped by her once again. He looked up at her in desperation.

"Please" was all he could muster to say “I need…”

“I know what you need, Elwood…” she replied, breathlessly “but first I wanna see the look in your eyes after I remove this corset.."

Elwood’s breath as Maria slowly slid his shades from his temples, making him lean forward until...

* * *

 

 

* * *

_**BANG** _

 

Elwood’s eyes snapped open as he fell off the bed and onto the floor on his stomach, temporarily knocking the wind from him. Jake suddenly sat up from his bed at the sound of his brother’s fall.

"Holy shit, what was that?”

“Shit!" Elwood hissed in pain.

He felt disoriented as he blinked behind his shades and looked around the room he and his brother shared.

“I fell“ he responded with a relieved sigh “I had an..um…intense dream and I fell.“

"That must have been one hell of a dream." Jake commented with a hint of laughter before he went back to bed.

Elwood quickly (and embarrassingly) covered his lap with a blanket as he helped himself up back onto his bed.

"You have no idea" he muttered, wiping the sweat from his brow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so cruel to Elwood, aren't I? Hehehehe.
> 
> I'd like to call this chapter "The Sexual Frustration chapter"
> 
> I listened to alot of Santana and Joplin as I wrote this to "set the mood" I guess and I think it went really well.


End file.
